A FORMER chair of the National Trust has called the “piecemeal erosion” of the beauty of the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales “a tragedy”, and is supporting the campaign to have the area designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Sir Simon Jenkins, who is also a former editor of The Times newspaper, has joined a host of household names in supporting the Cambrian Mountains Society’s campaign to have this “spectacular region” protected.

Sir Jenkins said: “The omission of the Cambrian Mountains from Welsh national park status in the 1960s was a tragic mistake, as the gradual erosion of the visual beauty of central Wales illustrates.

“Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons should never have been divorced.

“The result has already been a blight of turbine arrays, inappropriate buildings and unsightly conifer afforestation.

“At the very least, nowhere in Britain better qualifies for AONB status as a matter of urgency than the Cambrian Mountains.”

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 – yet are the only area in Wales to have no formal protection whatsoever.

TV naturalist Iolo Williams, president of the Cambrian Mountains Society said: “The Cambrian Mountains are the last true wild area of Wales, 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.

Cambrian Mountains Society trustee Brian Davies, whose family has lived and worked on the western fringes of the Cambrian Mountains for at least five generations, said: “Despite its extraordinary beauty, mid Wales is the only region in Wales without any protection whatsoever for its iconic landscapes. “The area is facing huge threats from several marine-scale wind farm proposals which will be highly visible for miles around.

“Investment companies buying ancient farms for greenwash purposes is another big problem.

“Far from planting mixed woodland such companies are planting conifers as a crop in the name of carbon offsetting, and suffocating biodiversity in the process.

“It is abundantly clear that the Cambrian Mountains need to be properly safeguarded for future generations to enjoy.”

The Cambrian Mountains petition, which currently has more than 3,000 signatures, says that AONB designation “would bring balance between development, local communities’ needs and people’s need for green space.”

The Senedd petition remains open online at www.petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/245150