Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur eleifend tortor nec augue pretium
The Morfa landfills are located along the coast within Port Talbot Steelworks to the west of the M4 motorway in Neath Port Talbot, South Wales.
The landfill is an in-house facility exclusively used by the steelworks and mainly accepting inert wastes.
There are three landfills currently on site, which are known as Morfa Non-Hazardous Landfill (MNHL), Morfa Hazardous Landfill (MHL) and Morfa Closed Landfill (MCL) each with its own environmental permit.
The original Morfa landfill, now known as Morfa Closed Landfill, was constructed in the 1970s. With the introduction of landfill regulations, the site was eventually decommissioned, capped and covered with an impermeable liner.
Following this, in line with the environmental permit linked with planning regulations, a programme of ecological (biodiversity) management was initiated. A total of 640 species has been recorded on MCL so far, which includes mammals (5), reptiles (5), birds (80), invertebrates (98), bryophytes (71), macroscopic fungi (22), lichens (22) and vascular plants (337).
The site lies in an area of great ecological interest. Some 1.1km to the south-east of the works area, on the opposite side of the River Kenfig, is the Kenfig National Nature Reserve which is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), special area of conservation (SAC) and national nature reserve (NNR) and contains the rare Fen Orchid Liparis loeselii.
The site shares a common boundary to the east with Margam Moors, which is also an SSSI.
One of the most significant ecological developments on this 93ha site over the past two decades has been the accumulation of aeolian sand (windblown sand), which originates from Conwy Morfa beach and the remnant areas of dune that lay to the west.
This has given rise to dynamic dune landscape that continues to evolve and now supports a rich assemblage of flora (plant) and fauna (animal) species.
Notable species include orchids such as Bee Orchid Ophrys apifera, Autumn Ladies-tresses Spiranthes spiralis, Marsh Helleborine Epipactis palustris, Broad-leaved Helleborine Epipactis helleborine, Green-veined Orchid Anacamptis morio, Early Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata and Southern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa.
Other species of note include Dune Fescue Vulpia fasciculata, Round-leaved Wintergreen Pyrola rotundifolia subsp. maritima, Variegated Horsetail Equisetum variegatum and two scarce neophytes, Bugseed Corispermum intermedium and French Bartsia Odontites jaubertianus.
There is also a system of pools and ditches, which provide a diverse habitat for aquatic species, including Small Pondweed Potamogeton berchtoldii, Thread-leaved Water Crowfoot Ranunculus trichophyllus and Stoneworts Nitella.
There are also well developed emergent flora, which includes common reeds Phragmites australis, Bulrush Typha latifolia, Grey Clubrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, and Pink Water-speedwell Veronica catenata.
Dune grassland with colourful species such as Marram Grass Ammophila arenaria, Wild Thyme Thymus drucei, Kidney Vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, Common Stork's-bill Erodium cicutarium, Dove's-foot Cranesbill Geranium molle and Viper's Bugloss Echium vulgare occur around the base of the landfill, where winter annual semi-fixed dune species like Hutchinsia Hornungia petraea may also be found.
Large areas on the east side of landfill are dominated by coarse grasses, such as Wood Small-reed Calamagrostis epigejos and Sea Couch Elymus athericus.
On the bare, damp sandy mud which lay to the west of the landfill, a fascinating community within the sand dune slacks has developed, which includes Frog Rush Juncus ranarius and Cavernous Crystalwort.
There are a large number of slacks on site at different successional stages, which support a diverse range of communities including creeping willow Salix repens communities with Round-leaved Wintergreen Pyrola rotundifolia and remarkable populations of the scarce fungus known as Foxy Fibrecap.
Priority fauna species associated with Morfa Landfill include the rarest bumble bee in the UK, known as the Shrill Carder-bee Bombus sylvarum. Other species include Lapwing Vanellus Vanellus and Brown Hare Lepus europaeus.
Ongoing ecological surveys and monitoring has been carried out. The site supports a large number of fauna and flora, including two Section 7 Priority plant species, Sea Stock Matthiola sinuate and Prickly Saltwort Salsola kali, one of which is Nationally Rare, the other being one of seven Nationally Scarce (BSBI Red List) species, namely Autumn lady’s-tresses Spiranthes spiralis, Dune Fescue Vulpia fasiculata, Dune Pansy Viola tricolor ssp. curtisii, Eyebright Euphrasia tetraquetra, Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio, Heath Dog-violet Viola canina, Hutchinsia Hornungia petraea and Sharp Rush Juncus acutus.
An additional three Regionally Scarce plant species have been recorded within the landfill site boundary.
Neath Port Talbot Priority and Contributory plant assemblage: a total of 38 Priority and Contributory sand dune specialists have been recorded to date, with a further 40 species not confined to sand dunes but considered to be of local importance, as they are either important components of other valuable habitats, support scarce invertebrates or are locally scarce.
Rare in Vice County 41 (Glamorgan) plant assemblage: four species have been recorded in three or fewer Wells sites (a Wells site being a moveable 1km square).
Sand dune plant assemblage: a total of 54 sand dune specialists have been recorded to date, with a further 37 species not confined to sand dunes but considered to be of local importance, as they are either important components of other valuable habitats, support scarce invertebrates or are locally scarce.
Section 7 Priority species recorded from the site include Brown Hare Lepus europaeus, Bittern Botaurus stellaris (rare in winter), Dunnock Prunella vulgaris (breeding), Kestrel Falco tinnunculus (non-breeding), Lapwing Vanellus vanellus (breeding), Linnet Carduelis cannabina (breeding), Skylark Alauda arvensis (breeding), Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus (breeding) and Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula (breeding), Shrill Carder Bee Bombus sylvarum, Brown-banded Carder Bee Bombus humilis, Small Blue Cupido minimus and Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages.
Key biodiversity developments
Future developments
Takeaways/learning outcomes
AUTHOR BIOG:
Christopher Richards currently works as an environmental lead, waste, land and biodiversity, for a large heavy manufacturing organisation. He is a chartered environmentalist, chartered wastes and resource manager and a chartered health and safety practitioner. MCL’s role includes the management of sites, including special ecological sites such as Margam Moors, which is a site of special scientific interest, and Morfa landfill sites. He is also carrying out a PhD part time, which is titled ‘Predicting the resilience of coastal habitats to climate change’.
He is a Graduate member of IEMA
Special thanks go to the following people for their ongoing support of the ecological management of the site and the author’s PhD:
