Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
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collieryspoil.bsky.social
Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
@collieryspoil.bsky.social
Nature conservation initiative aiming to raise awareness of the #biodiversity value of #collieryspoil sites (coal tips & former collieries) in South #Wales Valleys and beyond. Posts by @liamolds.bsky.social.
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🌿 A new chapter begins.

After 10 years of raising awareness of coal spoil biodiversity, the Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative is evolving into Glo i Natur CIC - continuing the same mission with new opportunities ahead.

➡️ Follow @gloinatur.bsky.social - this account will shortly be replaced 💚
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
3 weeks since launching our 'Save the Small Blue at Cwm Tips' #Crowdfunder and we’ve raised £915 - nearly halfway! 💙

Thank you for your support 💚

If you would like to donate, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-s...

#SaveTheSmallBlue #GloiNatur #CoaltoNature #Nature #Wales #Cymru #Wildlife
February 6, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
🎄 Merry Christmas & Happy New Year / Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda 🎄

Thank you to all who’ve supported us through our transition to Glo i Natur CIC 💚

2026 is shaping up to be an exciting year - with events, training and new projects ahead. Keep an eye on our socials for updates!
December 24, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
Visited the Lewis Merthyr coal tip above Trehafod last weekend. Once industrial spoil, it’s now heather, whinberry, lichens & warm bare ground supporting specialist wildlife. Conifers are creeping in, so management is key. Even in winter it’s beautiful 💚

#GloiNatur #CoaltoNature #CoalSpoil
December 5, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
Great to speak with the Nature Restoration & Forestry students from Black Mountain College in Treherbert today about coal spoil wildlife. Sharing this knowledge is vital - inspiring future practitioners to recognise the biodiversity value of these sites. 🌿💚
December 10, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
We usually showcase the plants, fungi & invertebrates of coal spoil sites - but here’s some of the hidden life too 🐭

Wood Mice sheltering under a metal sheet at Darren Fawr Tip in the Garw Valley.

Coal tips: full of surprises, even in winter.

#GloiNatur #CoaltoNature #SouthWalesValleys
December 12, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
Tufa springs on coal tips 💦

These rare micro-habitats form where water passing through coal spoil picks up calcium - likely from ancient marine bands - and deposits it at the surface. Unusual in the acidic Valleys, and vital for specialist wildlife like soldierflies.

#GloiNatur #CoaltoNature
December 13, 2025 at 5:11 PM
🌿 A new chapter begins.

After 10 years of raising awareness of coal spoil biodiversity, the Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative is evolving into Glo i Natur CIC - continuing the same mission with new opportunities ahead.

➡️ Follow @gloinatur.bsky.social - this account will shortly be replaced 💚
November 7, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
We’re excited to announce the launch of Glo i Natur CIC - a new community interest company dedicated to protecting, restoring, and celebrating the unique biodiversity and heritage of South Wales’ coal spoil sites. 🌿

Follow our journey from coal to nature: gloinatur.org

#GloiNatur #NatureRecovery
November 7, 2025 at 8:35 AM
🎉 Celebrating 10 Years of the Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative 🎉

This December marks 10 years since the Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative began its mission to change how people see South Wales’ colliery spoil sites — from barren relics of industry to thriving havens for wildlife.

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November 3, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
Check out our new insect decline paper. By analysing 36 yrs of German ground beetle distribution data, we show:
- ~80% of species have declined, with significant declines for >50%.
- The decline was similar across species traits and threatened status.
doi.org/10.1111/ddi.... @consbiog.bsky.social
November 3, 2025 at 1:38 AM
👻 Meet the Ghost Slug this #Halloween! 🐌

The Ghost Slug (Selenochlamys ysbryda) is a mysterious predator that hunts earthworms deep underground. Its scientific name comes from the Welsh word ysbryd, meaning ghost or spirit - a fitting title for a rather elusive creature!

#GhostSlug #SpookySpecies
October 31, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Exploring a coal spoil site near Aberdare today, we found the flat-backed millipede Polydesmus barberii.

This non-native species, first seen in Britain in 1995, has only recently been discovered in Wales. Today's find is just the fourth known site in Wales — and the third in the Cynon Valley!
September 26, 2025 at 8:36 PM
🐞🌿 Join us for Blaenavon Biodiversity Day on Sat 20 Sept!
Guided walks with local experts on insects, fungi, birds + more.
Don’t miss @liamolds.bsky.social from @collieryspoil.bsky.social leading an insect/invertebrate walk!

📍 Blaenavon | 🗓️ 20 Sept
September 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative
Join the Buglife Cymru Coal Spoil Connections team, Lost Peatlands Project - Prosiect Adfer Mawndiroedd, KeyCreate, and others for a WildBlitz at Clydach Vale Country Park!

🗓️ Friday 29 August
🕙 10:30 - 15:00
📌 Clydach Vale Country Park

No need to book, just turn up at Cambrian Colliery Memorial.
August 28, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Hieroglyphic Ladybird (Coccinella hieroglyphica) from heathland at Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Blaenau Gwent, this morning.
August 21, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Last night we visited Gelli Tips and were treated to a beautiful scene – the evening sunlight casting a golden glow over the tips, with the heather in full bloom. 💜🌿

We also captured some breathtaking drone footage that will feature in an upcoming video for Buglife’s Coal Spoil Connections project.
August 16, 2025 at 8:32 AM
An Evening Of History and Wildlife at Silent Valley - Friday 8th August, 6:30pm start

Join Buglife's Coal Spoil Connections Team and @henebtwa.bsky.social for a guided walk through Silent Valley Nature Reserve.

For further info and booking, visit: www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...
August 8, 2025 at 7:23 AM
A few spaces have become available on the 'Bee and butterfly guided walk' at #Mumbles 🦋🐝

Fri 1 August 10.00am – 12.00pm and 1.00pm – 3.00pm

Meeting point: outside Forte's, Mumbles Road, Mumbles, #Swansea SA3 4JT
What3words ///fields.sobered.sharpens

👉Booking required: www.trybooking.com/uk/EWZL
July 30, 2025 at 6:00 AM
This year we've been working with the South Wales Trunk Road Agency to survey roadside verges for invertebrates around Merthyr Tydfil. Today we made our final visit to a very special verge in Dowlais. Comprising colliery spoil, it's proving to be a real hidden gem for biodiversity!
July 28, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Back to Sirhowy Hill Woodlands today to continue the invertebrate survey. The reserve looked lovely, and great to see the bee hotels in use — even spotted a Wood-carving Leafcutter Bee (Megachile ligniseca) basking on one!

Among today's nice finds was the leafhopper Rhopalopyx adumbrata.
July 24, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Today's guided walks at Parc Melin Mynach, Gorseinon, explored the former Mountain Colliery site.

Highlights included Marbled White, Six-belted Clearwing, Brown-banded Carder Bee, prowling spider Cheiracanthium virescens, and picture-winged fly Herina palustris.

Great turnout despite the heat! 🥵
July 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
It's #WalesNatureWeek 🎉

Join @liamolds on a guided walk at Parc Melin Mynach, Gorseinon, and discover how nature has reclaimed this former colliery site.

Friday 11th July
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

For booking, visit www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...
Hidden Life of Colliery Spoil: Biodiversity Guided Walk
Discover the surprising wildlife of Parc Melin Mynach on a guided walk led by entomologist Liam Olds. Explore how nature has reclaimed this former...
www.trybooking.com
July 5, 2025 at 8:03 AM
🌟 Exciting Discovery Alert! 🌟

Back in January we teased some big news…and here it is!

🐌 Semilimax pyrenaicus (Pyrenean Semi-slug) has been recorded in Britain for the first time, found at a colliery spoil site in Cwmaman, S. Wales.

Read more: doi.org/10.61733/jco...

#SemiSlug #WildlifeDiscovery
June 24, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Last week, @olds_liam led a guided walk for staff & students from University of Bristol at Coity Tips, Blaenavon.

We explored the unique habitats and species of colliery spoil — which included sightings of iconic species such as Bilberry Bumblebee, Mottled Grasshopper, Fairy-flax & Bee Orchid.
June 23, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Incredible tufa springs seen at the former Pentremawr Colliery, Pontyberem, Carmarthenshire, today - clearly decades of tufa deposits! Around the springs was Delicate Soldierfly (Oxycera nigricornis) and Giant Lacewing (Osmylus fulvicephalus), as well as caddisflies and craneflies.
June 19, 2025 at 6:55 PM