Port of Milford Haven Supports Pembroke River Restoration Project
Port of Milford Haven Supports Pembroke River Restoration Project
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The Port of Milford Haven has supported the Pembroke River Restoration Project with funding for over 600 trees, associated items such as mulch, canes and tree guards, and volunteers.
The pilot project, which aims to improve the water quality of Pembroke River and the Pembrokeshire Marine SAC, is supported by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Pembrokeshire County Council, the Port of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, West Wales Rivers Trust, Dwr Cymru, Wildlife Trust South and West Wales, Pembroke Town Council and Pembrokeshire Nature Partnership.
It was initiated through Pembroke Town Council following concerns from residents and businesses in the town about the increased nutrient levels in the Pembroke River, which, combined with high summer temperatures, were resulting in annual algal blooms in the Pembroke Millponds. Furthermore, increased nutrient levels are found in the Pembrokeshire Marine SAC into which the Pembroke River flows. The Pembroke River Restoration Project team has set out to resolve this issue by installing fencing to control the movement of livestock in and around watercourses, reducing nutrient input and siltation, as well as planting trees and woody material along a catchment of the river to reduce silt and encourage diverse stream flow. This will improve water quality, habitat creation and flood management.
Donating an assortment of trees such as hawthorn, alder, beech and downy birch, the Port of Milford Haven helped with the setup for an acre of the river corridor. Staff from the Port have also volunteered their time to help maintaining the trees installed.
Jack O’Shea, Energy and Decarbonisation Manager for the Port of Milford Haven and eager volunteer for the project, commented: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside the organisations and individuals who have rallied together to bring this inspiring project to fruition and to have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to our local communities and the natural environment in which we operate and enjoy. The Port of Milford Haven is very excited to follow the project's progress and are eager to observe the positive social, economic and environmental impacts that come as a result of the hard work from all involved.”
Commenting on the project, Peter Howe, Green Infrastructure Officer at Pembrokeshire County Council said: “This project is a landscape scale project, which hopes to improve water quality issues, to reduce such impacts further downstream that ultimately affects the Waterway The help and support of the Port of Milford Haven on this part of the project has created a riverine woodland habitat which is beneficial to improving water quality”.
Andrew Lewis, Marine Opportunity Catchment Officer for NRW, lead NRW officer on the project said: “I am pleased to have delivered a demonstration project within the Pembroke River catchment. Hopefully, this project will show the benefits of similar intervention work to all our partners and to landowners. For the work to truly have an impact the work needs to be continued at a catchment scale.”