Pembrey Forest Resource Plan - Approved 5 December 2018

Location and setting

• Pembrey Forest is coastal forest, 981 hectares in size. It is made up predominantly of Corsican pine forest situated adjacent to village of Pembrey, to the south of Kidwelly and west of Burry Port, Carmarthenshire. Llanelli is the largest settlement in the locality.
  
  
• The surrounding habitat is coast along the western edge, with routes from the forest to the beach. There are stabilized sand dunes to the north along with saltmarsh of the Gwendraeth estuary along the north and north eastern edge, owned by the MoD. Pembrey Sands Firing Range is located at the north of the forest. The south mainly has agricultural land reclaimed from saltmarshes, whilst there is forest as well as more sand dunes at the very south which is in the ownership of Carmarthen County Council.
  
  
• It is within Carmarthenshire County Council Planning Authority boundary.

Summary of objectives

The management objectives have been agreed to maintain and enhance the resilience of ecosystems, and the benefits they provide:

• Replace Corsican pine overtime diversifying the forest with a wide range of timber producing species as well as a range of native & non-native broadleaf species.  Diversification will also increase resilience to pests and disease whilst building of a robust forest for future generations.
  
  
• Diversification should take place through a regime of thinning or strip or group selection and underplanting or supplementary planting of some of the more open crops. A timescale for transformation needs to be decided which will result in significant transformation before much of the diseased crop dies. Leaving an over-storey is beneficial to features which are vulnerable to sudden changes in habitat conditions and soil disturbance and should aid establishment of young trees due to an increase in shelter.
  
  
• Continue to maintain a sustainable supply of timber production through design of felling and choice of a range of restocking species choices.
  
  
• Increase structural diversity through LISS management where appropriate and consideration of the scale, size and timing of any clearfell avoiding the felling of adjacent coupes. Older conifer crops should be retained where possible to maintain forest structure and productive potential.
  
  
• Maintain and enhance recreational use.
  
  
• Continue to remove and treat the sea-buckthorn in the SAC.
  
  
• Continue the partnership with Butterfly Conservation and others to manage the ride network, and other feature, for example, the “Sciomyzid pond”, for the benefit of the rich invertebrate population.
  
  
• There is the potential to create a notch in the seaward edge of the forest which would hopefully will create a “blowout” which would be required if re-mobilisation of sand stands any chance.
  
  
• Utilise the current road network for the benefit of biodiversity by creating linkages with open habitat and maintaining a mosaic of open areas throughout the forest.
  
  
• Use opportunities to locate broadleaved woodland to create a permanent barrier between the motor sports arena to block out noise.
  
  
• Heritage and cultural features to be identified to avoid damage.
  
  
• Investigate the enrichment of the barrier woodland with salt tolerant species such as Elder, Hawthorn, Sycamore, Birch and Oak.
  
  
• Maintain mosaic of habits ensuring that there are always open areas within the forest.

Comments or feedback

If you have any comments or feedback, you can contact the Forest Resource Planning team at frp@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk