WILDLIFE biologist David Bavin will be opening up the elusive world of pine martens in Wales at a free event at the Centre for Alternative Technology tonight.

David, of the Vincent Wildlife Trust, will talk about pine marten ecology and VWT’s Pine Marten Recovery Project, which has been translocating martens from Scotland to mid-Wales over the past year.

The pine marten is said to be part of the UK’s rich wildlife heritage and a charismatic woodland mammal.

It plays an integral role in a healthy woodland ecosystem and can be an important predator of pest species, such as grey squirrels, which can in turn boost native red squirrel populations. Re-establishing pine martens can also benefit the rural economy through wildlife tourism.

In 2012 David became project officer for the VWT’s People and Pine Martens in Wales project. Through extensive survey work, David has detected this elusive species, supported habitat assessment and improvement and promoted marten conservation in Wales.

Now, in his role as project officer for the Pine Marten Recovery Project, David aims to support the restoration of pine marten populations to Wales and England.

The talk begins at 7pm and following this, and weather, time and interest permitting, David hopes to lead guests outside to look for radio-collared martens that have set up territories near CAT.

For information about the event go to http://visit.cat.org.uk and for more about the VWT’s pine marten projects visit www.vwt.org.uk/projects/pine-marten-recovery-project.