The spring meeting of CMG will be on Saturday 1st April starting at 10:00, at the Memorial Hall, Llangain, Carmarthenshire, SA33 5AE.  There will be two main talks, by Ivy Denham, and Vaughn Matthews.  Vaughn is the Species Officer for INCC (Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru), a relatively new conservation charity.  He will be telling us about INCC’s work to reinforce Marsh Fritillary butterfly populations in suitable managed grassland areas in the South-East of the county.  

The Marsh Fritillary’s larval food plant is Devil’s-bit Scabious, and as a late-flowering species the land requires appropriate management for it (and thus the Marsh Fritillary) to survive.

Devils’ bit scabious- Laura Moss

Ivy is on the Carmarthenshire Meadows steering group, and with her husband Carl, is a land management contractor.  She has much experience of tackling many of the problems faced by small landowners who are trying to manage their land in a wildlife-friendly way, including how she and Carl have worked out how to manage a meadow with no vehicular access.

We will also have a brief AGM, and an update on the Big Meadow Search (a CMG initiative but now UK-wide), including the new BMS book which we hope will be ready for sale by then, at £10 per copy.

Hope to see you at what should be a very interesting meeting.

Rachel