Army man-power helps to rebuild national park

Last month, more than 500 soldiers, along with National Park wardens rolled their sleeves up and braved freezing conditions in the Brecon Beacons enabling the National Park to complete vital ground work on important conservation projects before Christmas.

Committed to improving their community relations and service, the Soldier Development Wing approached Brecon Beacons National Park Authority with the offer of extra man-power resources to help contribute to conservation projects including bridge building, footpath repair, stone removal, vegetation clearance and common land beautification.

The Soldier Development Wing, which is based at Sennybridge Training Camp, provides developmental training for over 6,000 recruits throughout the year that are in week 10 of their basic training. During the week they are exposed to local caves, climbing and kayaking/canoeing venues along with physical training in the Brecon Beacons mountain ranges. The National Park area provides the Wing with an excellent array of opportunities to conduct vital training imperative to the recruits' development.

John Cook, Acting Chief Executive for Brecon Beacons National Park Authority said: “The Army’s efforts have provided tremendous support to the Brecon Beacons, with over 6,500 man hours dedicated to improvements at some key sites in the National Park - including the Ystradfellte waterfalls area, the Llanthony Valley, Trefil Quarry and common land. We need volunteers year-round in the Brecon Beacons and the invaluable contribution of the Army has set the scene for further partnership projects that we plan to undertake in 2009.”

Captain Mark Field, the Officer Commanding at the Soldier Development Wing said: “Many organisations face increased resource demands, so we consider our support to the National Park essential, not only to conservation improvement but also to our own training requirements. Our soldiers have undertaken a tremendous variety of work and skill development – some of which may be very useful when they are posted abroad. We hope that this has set the scene for further partnership work and improvement projects as part of our contribution to the delicate and protected landscape we train on.”