Hieracium radyrense Radyr hawkweed: Is it essential to your well-being? Tim Rich Environment (Wales) Act 2016 Section 7: “The Welsh Ministers must also take all reasonable steps to maintain and enhance the living organisms and types of habitat included in any list published under this section, and encourage others to take such steps.” • Radyr hawkweed, being a Section 7 species, must be essential to our wellbeing and must be well-looked after …. Radyr Hawkweed has a history of being on lists: Cardiff BAPs • Included in ‘Wild about Cardiff’ 2001 Cardiff BAP, but not in 2008 Cardiff BAP NERC Act Section 42 (2006) • 6 ‘threatened endemic hawkweeds’; original didn’t specify which 6 but was subsequently added Vascular Red List for Wales (Dines et al. 2008) • IUCN ‘Endangered’ Atlas of British and Irish Hawkweeds (McCosh & Rich 2010) • IUCN ‘Critically Endangered’ • Very rare Welsh endemic confined to Radyr area • First found 1907, named as a species in 1955 [Google “Radyr hawkweed Watsonia 2005” and download paper for free] Radyr (exact site not known) • 1907 – “the prevalent one in the locality. I have not traced it further in the neighbourhood.” H. J. Riddelsdell Radyr quarry • 1910-1955 • One plant nearby at Radyr Woods 1985 Morganstown? • 1965 – specimen lacks rosette (H. cinderella?) Danybryn • 1953-2004+(?), c. 25 plants September 2013 • a member of the public reported Radyr Hawkweed on railway wall and on waste ground nearby • I dismissed it as was more likely to be a hawkweed at Radyr, rather than Radyr hawkweed; I owe an apology. • 26 June 2014, I was asked by Network Rail to check it in relation to electrification of Valleys lines, surprised to find 36 plants with probably more on railway above! • Reported its importance, which RSK forwarded to Network Rail and it was added to the ‘Hazard Directory’ April 2016 • By chance on a walk I found the wall had been cleaned by Network Rail, with very few (<10) plants surviving – was very cross • Subsequently Julian Woodman found 91 plants on railway above with Network Rail June 2017 • new site! Roadside bank at Wenallt, very steep narrow road, 14 plants (have seen this colony for about 10-15 years, but unsafe to stop!) Summary: • Rare endemic known from 5 sites • 2 site extinct • 3 extant (though nobody has checked Danybryn since 2004) • (but also escaping out of Julian’s garden) • c. 120 plants, IUCN ‘Endangered’ No reasonable steps have been taken even after 12 years of being on Section 42 and Section 7 • no conservation plan • no monitoring • no appropriate management So as it is not on the Welsh Ministers’ radar (radyr?), can I ‘encourage others to take … steps’ to help Radyr Hawkweed please? And the other 5 threatened endemic species on Section 7… Aderyn 12/11/17 Thanks to Elaine for help sorting the SEWBREC records SEWBREC records Number Accepted 15 Errors 4 Duplicates 15 “The Welsh Ministers must also take all reasonable steps to maintain and enhance the living organisms and types of habitat included in any list published under this section, and encourage others to take such steps.” H. angustatiforme – no idea, have seen it on one site H. breconicola – 2 plants last time I saw it 2014 (collected seed on 8th occasion) H. reticulum – no such species, they mean H. rectulum H. snowdoniense – 3 plants in Cwm Idwal; conservation programme not funded as “too expensive” to do properly H. subminutidens – I was consulted about a development proposal! .