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Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury head to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in West Wales.
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority website -
Fish Week
There are global concerns about the state of fish stocks and the impact the industry’s having on the marine environment. Conservationists fear that some species are in danger of being fished to extinction. So how can you eat fish with a clear conscience? Matt went to the county’s “Fish Week” event to find out.
Marine Conservation Society: Fishing for the future -
Marine Nature Reserve
The waters around the tiny island of Skomer form one of only three marine nature reserves in the whole of the UK. Its protected status has allowed an incredible variety of sea life to flourish.
Skomer Marine Nature Reserve
Julia joins the team who monitor the reserve as they study plankton - a microscopic mix of plant and animal life - that provides food for everything else higher up the chain. -
Skomer Island
It’s the 50th Anniversary of Skomer Island becoming a National Nature reserve. Julia discovers why the island is of international importance for seabirds, and what researchers are doing to secure their future.
Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales: Skomer Island -
Foraging
Matt goes in search of his supper with professional forager Yun Hider, who’s been supplying top chefs and restaurants for 13 years. Some plants are poisonous so it’s important you know what you’re picking.
The Mountain Food Company: Growing guide -
Castlemartin Range
Castlemartin is the UK’s largest tank range where soldiers train with live ammunition before being deployed overseas. It’s also the largest area of semi-natural grassland in Wales and because the land has never been farmed, and public access is restricted, it’s home to some rare wildlife – including choughs.
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park: Castlemartin Range -
Coasteering
Pembrokeshire has many miles of fantastic coastline so it comes as no surprise that the sport of “coasteering” was pioneered here. It consists of swimming, scrambling, jumping - and generally using the sea and the rocky cliffs as a playground. Julia dons wetsuit and helmet to discover why it’s one of the fastest-growing adventure sports.
TYF Adventure: Coasteering in Wales -
Climate change crops
Olives, peaches and Szechuan peppers are perhaps not crops you would traditionally associate with the south coast of England. But Countryfile’s plant expert James Wong meets Devon farmer Mark Diacono who’s growing these and a host of other non-native crops.
DEFRA: UK Climate Projections 2009 – planning for our future climate
Next James visits a local blackcurrant farm to see how one of Britain’s best known drinks producers is travelling the world to try to develop a new “climate change proof” variety of the fruit. -
Milking machines
A couple of months ago John Craven investigated the way our milk is produced and how this affects the welfare of cows. It provoked more calls and emails than anything else featured so far this year. So John decided to revisit the topic and to find out how the cows we see in our fields are bred.
Most dairy cows have been bred selectively on the basis of their ability to produce milk. Some experts suggest that this puts undue pressure on the cow and has implications for their health. However more recently there has been a shift in attitudes, and farmers are being advised to breed more for health benefits than milk production. But has the advice come too late? John investigates. -
Adam’s Farm
Each week Countryfile’s Adam Henson shows what it’s like to be a working farmer in the UK today. This week he’s left his Cotswold farm to use his specialist skills as a judge of rare breed primitive sheep at the Three Counties Show in Malvern.
Credits
- Presenter
- Matt Baker
- Presenter
- Julia Bradbury
- Presenter
- John Craven
- Presenter
- James Wong
- Presenter
- Adam Henson
- Producer
- Teresa Bogan
