A CAMPAIGN has been launched to have the “stunning, unspoilt landscape” of a mid Wales mountain range designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Cambrian Mountains Society (CMS) has launched a campaign to have the “stunning, unspoilt landscape of the Cambrian Mountains” designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The Cambrian uplands spread across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys, and “includes exceptional glaciated plateaux, lakes, mountain rivers and valleys and host a wide range of threatened plants and animals”, but has no formal protection.

TV naturalist and president of CMS Iolo Williams said the Cambrian Mountains are “one of the last places in our land where you can truly lose yourself in nature”.

As a key element of its campaign, the Cambrian Mountains Society is collecting signatures for a petition to deliver to the Senedd – once it has reached 10,000 the issue of designating the area as an AONB will need to be debated in chamber.

Lorna Brazell, secretary of CMS, added: “Despite its extraordinary beauty, mid Wales is the only region in Wales without any protection whatsoever for its iconic landscapes. With changing patterns of farming and forestry, including ancient farms being bought up to be planted for so-called carbon offsetting, and increasing levels of tourism due to Covid-19, this unique space risks being eroded haphazardly.

“The need is clear: to think holistically to ensure this important resource is properly safeguarded for future generations to enjoy.”

James Evans MS, Shadow Minister for mid Wales, said: “The Cambrian Mountains are at the heart of Mid Wales, and an outstandingly beautiful landscape.

“In recent years, we have all realised that outdoor spaces for the people of the United Kingdom to enjoy and explore is extremely important to both the physical and mental well-being of the population.

“I believe the Cambrian Mountains need recognition, and I will work with organisations such as the Cambrian Mountains Society to ensure its profile is raised.”

CMS trustee Brian Davies, whose family has lived and worked on the western fringes of the Cambrian Mountains for at least five generations, explained: “People have been shaping the Cambrian landscape for at least 2000 years through farming, droving and mining, but because the area is so remote the impacts have been local and small-scale.

“It used to take days on foot or horseback to get from one place to another – you can try it yourself on the Cambrian Way, which I first walked in 1964 before it was even named, across the hills from Llandovery in the south to Commins Coch in the north.

“These hills are still a marvellous place of open spaces and peace even today. With all the proposals for larger developments currently being made, that looks set to change unless we think, and act, now.”

The petition can be found here https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/245150.