ABERTHAW Power Station invited 25 Year 5 pupils from St Athan School as part of Wales Biodiversity Week.

Aberthaw Power Station is committed to celebrating the local biodiversity and sharing this with the community and school children. Every year the power station hosts hundreds of children at its Aberthaw Centre for Energy and Environment (ACE2) and during the summer, runs monthly nature walks around Aberthaw Nature Reserve.

The event included a nature walk through the East Aberthaw Nature Reserve, which is open to the public and managed in partnership with the Wildlife Trust. The walk was led by Amy Lavisher, an environmental compliance engineer, with support from Samantha Anthony, Aberthaw learning & development advisor. The pupils were provided with magnifying glasses, and kept a look out for bugs, creepy crawlies, butterflies and moths.

Amy said, “The kids thoroughly enjoyed the day’s activities, and took away valuable lessons. At Aberthaw we understand the importance of preserving diversity in the environment, and the need to educate the next generation on such matters. This was just another example of our ongoing commitment to environmental issues on a local scale.”

After a brief spot of bird watching along the coast, the pupils were escorted to the ACE2 building for a series of educational sessions. A class in moth handling was taken by Nigel Ajax-Lewis of the Wildlife Trust, followed by some bee keeping insights with Harold Williams and Barbara Chick of the Beekeepers’ Association. Finally, Matt Bunt from Keep Wales Tidy led a life cycle learning session.

To showcase the amazing biodiversity on our doorstep, the Wildlife Trust is hosting a nature walk at Aberthaw Nature Reserve on September 21, starting at 6pm at the bottom of Well Road, East Aberthaw. This is a free walk that is open to the public.