A farm company must pay nearly £21,000 after damaging rare plant life at protected wildlife site with fertiliser, slurry and herbicide.
Ferwig farm company, Jenkins Ty Hen Limited was found guilty of damaging a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Mwnt, Ceredigion.
Last week Haverfordwest Magistrates Court heard how land at Crug Bychan, Ty Gwyn and Llwyn Ysgaw, was designated as an SSSI in 2004, in recognition of its importance for rare plant species.
This SSSI is the only one in Wales specifically designated for the protection of arable plants and is considered to be of significant cultural as well as ecological importance.
The site supports more than 60 types of arable flowers, including several known as archaeophytes, which are plants introduced by humans from mainland Europe that have since become naturalised in Britain and Ireland.
Most were brought over by early farmers during the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman or Medieval periods, often as contaminants of crop seeds. As a result, they are strongly associated with arable fields.
Many of these species are now rare in Wales and across the UK and need careful farming to survive.
Farmers can grow crops like barley and wheat but must leave some areas without fertiliser or herbicides so the wild plants can grow too.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) found that the rules protecting SSSIs had been broken by Jenkins Ty Hen Limited, who are tenants of the land owned by the National Trust, several times over the past eight years.
Between 2017 and 2025, there were repeated cases where fertiliser, slurry and herbicides were used without permission from NRW, damaging the rare plant life.
Experts say this has caused a serious decline in the number and variety of rare plants on the site.
Photos issued by NRW show the affected area decimated by the breaches.
NRW said that despite advice, warnings and meetings, the damaging activity continued. Some of the damage even happened after the farmer had been formally warned and invited to be interviewed under caution.
At Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on May 5, Jenkins Ty Hen Limited was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,940 and an additional £2,000 victim surcharge. In addition to this, a 10-year restoration order was imposed.
The restoration recognises that some of the rare plants still remain at the site and that recovery may still be possible if the land is handled correctly.
The restoration order requires the land to be managed through an appropriate arable crop rotation.
In addition, a buffer margin must be maintained around the fields to support designated plant species. Within this margin, the use of fertilisers and herbicides must not be used to give these plants the best possible opportunity to recover and thrive.
NRW said it took legal action against Jenkins Ty Hen Limited, in response to the continued damage and the serious risk of rare plants being lost altogether
“Sites like this are very important for wildlife and for future generations,” said Ann Weedy, operations manager at Natural Resources Wales.
“They are protected by law, and we work closely with farmers to help them manage the land in the right way.
“In this case, the rules were broken many times, even after clear advice and warnings. This caused real harm to rare plants restricted to a few places in Wales.
“We have taken action to protect this special site and give it the best chance to recover.”
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