Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome back once more to this amazing adventure in the Pont-Y-Pandy woodlands.
Today marks a very special chapter the final part of Series 2 of Pont-Y-Pandy Woodlands: Rewilding – The Full Untold Story. This series has uncovered so many aspects of change both ecological and social. It’s been eye-opening to say the least, and I say that not only as a researcher and photographer but as someone who has walked every twist and turn of this landscape for years. This entry is also a testament to the incredible efforts of all the services and organisations that play a role in protecting and restoring the world we live in. Through their unique contributions, we've seen what can happen when care, coordination, and community truly come together.
A Unified Effort: Local Heroes in Action
Throughout this project, the importance of collaboration became crystal clear. The results weren’t the work of one person or one organisation they were the combined magic of many: Lunacare Cymru proudly completed the Pont-Y-Pandy Woodlands Digital Map, bringing the entire area into an accessible format for future research, education, and engagement. Groundwork Wales succeeded in removing a huge amount of waste from the Nant-Yr-Aber river, leaving behind a cleaner, more vibrant watercourse that could breathe again. Keep Wales Tidy and Caerphilly Council played a major role in waste removal and ongoing management, supporting the restoration and ensuring proper disposal of long-ignored rubbish. Credit cannot be understated here these organisations made an impact both in the short term and with eyes on the long-term health of this vital woodland.
The Effects on Rewilding
It was during the river cleansing efforts that the impact on rewilding truly became visible. I remember walking through the woodlands and seeing vibrant wild garlic blooming in abundance. It felt like a reward from the land itself a sign that with enough care, life would return. As part of the Research & Rewilding team, I made it a priority to capture as much photographic media as possible during this fleeting moment of wild growth. Why? Because this matters. This blooming was more than seasonal it was symbolic. A landscape once choked by pollution was slowly reclaiming itself. The area, once dormant and heavily degraded, had begun to show signs of new ecological infancy. Like a mother nurturing a child, the earth was forming something new from what was nearly lost a fragile yet determined return. This is what rewilding looks like. Not instant transformation, but quiet, persistent change.
Closing Thoughts
It runs deep in my heart this passion to help community and environment thrive together. The Pont-Y-Pandy woodlands have become a living case study, not just for Research & Rewilding, but for a wider anthropological understanding of how local populations interact with their green spaces, how they respond to crises, and how the land itself responds in kind. Series 2 ends here but not without reflection. Between 2022 and 2024, more happened in this woodland than any other series to date. We witnessed the environmental shifts, the rise of community support, and the collective resilience of a place many had written off. We’ve learned how ecology is affected by people and how people are shaped by the lands they live beside. We've seen how an aging population, strained systems, and climate fluctuations push us all to act with urgency not over decades, but with haste and heart, before the seasons move on without us. Because that’s the truth of it the seasons will bring change, with or without us. Our only choice is whether to meet that change with vision, care, and unity. Series 2 concludes not only with major success, but with a wider understanding of the challenges that still lie ahead.
So, Ladies and Gentlemen, until the next time... Take care.
Michael “Druid” Thomas
Lunacare Cymru | Media - Blog
