More than 100 people living in and around Llanwrtyd Wells will be growing wetland plants this spring to help restore freshwater habitats across the River Irfon catchment in mid-Wales.

Run by wildlife conservation charity Freshwater Habitats Trust, the GroWet initiative is a first for Wales and enables people to grow freshwater plants at home or in community centres, before they are introduced to suitable wild places in the summer.

Volunteers are given seeds to germinate at home and will look after the plants in greenhouses or on windowsills until they are big and strong enough to be planted out.

A locally-based team from Freshwater Habitats Trust ran a seed collection day at the Pavillion in Dolwen Fields, Llanwrtyd Wells, on January 13, which attracted local people keen to get involved in GroWet. Other volunteers, including the Irfon Valley Growers and the local gardening club, have now signed up to help restore their local wetland and freshwater habitats. Care homes, day centres and schools from the surrounding area have also expressed an interest in taking part.

The plants - Great Burnet, Ragged Robin, and Devil’s-bit Scabious - are all native to the Irfon catchment. A vital part of Britain’s freshwater biodiversity, these three species have declined due to pollution and changes in land use. Seeds were sustainably collected from the local area by Freshwater Habitats Trust and volunteers last summer.

Freshwater Habitats Trust will keep in touch with the volunteer growers over the coming months to provide support, and to arrange the final collection of the mature seedlings. Some of the plants will then be planted in the ponds and wetlands that Freshwater Habitats Trust has recently created with partners and landowners, while others will be used to help restore floodplain meadows.

GroWet started in 2022, but this is the first time it has been run in Wales.

Kirsty Allwood of Freshwater Habitats Trust’s River Irfon Catchment Project team organised the seed collection day. She said: “The local community has been so supportive of our efforts to restore freshwater habitats across the Irfon catchment, with everyone from local farmers to schools helping to improve the freshwater environment. It’s been fantastic to see such a positive response to GroWet and we’re really looking forward to finding out how people get on with growing their plants and then working with landowners to introduce them to local habitats.

“We’re really excited to be running GroWet in the Irfon catchment and are so grateful to everyone who’s already signed up to volunteer. This is such an easy way to make a difference and anyone can get involved – it’s not too late to sign up and you don’t need to be especially green-fingered!”

Nerys Mellor of Freshwater Habitats Trust added: “It was great to chat to people at the seed collection day. Some were collecting seed packs as a fun activity to do with their children, others were interested in having an exciting gardening challenge and the opportunity to grow something different. I think everyone who has signed up is keen to do something practical that could have a positive impact on nature in their local environment.

“We’d also like to thank the Pavillion in Dolwen Fields Llanwrtyd Wells for allowing us to host the Seed Collection Day and the volunteers who helped us collect wild, local seeds throughout the summer months.”

Volunteers can still sign up for GroWet and other volunteer opportunities in the Irfon catchment, including water quality testing and lowland fen and floodplain restoration. Anyone who wants to get involved can email Kirsty Allwood: [email protected] to arrange the collection of a seed pack at a date and location that suits them or to find out more about future volunteer actitivies.

Freshwater Habitats Trust has been working in the Irfon catchment, which stretches from Abergwesyn to Builth Wells, since 2020. GroWet is part of the River Irfon Catchment Project, which is supported by the Nature Networksfund and is being delivered by the Heritage Fund, on behalf of the Welsh Government.

Freshwater Habitats Trust CEO Professor Jeremy Biggs said: “Freshwaters have never faced greater threats, but here in the Irfon catchment - which still has many clean water habitats and a wide range of endangered freshwater species - we have an opportunity to make a difference. To reverse the decline in freshwater biodiversity, we need to protect and restore the whole freshwater environment and, with the help of local people through initiatives like GroWet, we can make a real difference.”