A NEW project to bring back native woodland and wildlife to a windswept mountain near Machynlleth will go ahead after a funding drive raised £350,000.

The campaign to raise funds to purchase the 352-acre site at Cefn Coch in the Cambrian Mountains, will now see The Woodland Trust and Wales Wild Land Foundation move ahead with their project to allow nature to recreate native woodland across much of the site.

By creating the right conditions in the landscape, the two charities hope one day to attract back iconic species which once inhabited the area, such as the pine marten, the red squirrel, the water vole and the dormouse.

Iolo Williams, the TV naturalist, has commended the two organisations on their success.

“Many congratulations to the Woodland Trust and Wales Wild Land Foundation on raising the money to buy Cefn Coch, near Machynlleth,” he said. “I look forward to seeing the reserve develop into a habitat for some of the most iconic creatures we have in Wales.”

The plan to kick-start the restoration of the neglected land will see the planting of 5,000 native trees, birch, rowan, willow, alder, Scots pine, hazel, hawthorn and blackthorn.

These will act as a seed source to allow the site to regenerate naturally – encouraging back birds such as the nightjar and the curlew.

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