How clean is your air?

In the west lies the Celtic rain forest. Covered in emerald moss interwoven with light blues, different shades of greens and greys a lichen rich garden. Trees that have grown their way, twisted and gnarled, limbs that hang inches above ground and rise again to the heavens. Dappled shade dances in the summer breeze and dazzling blues carpet the woodland floor like a tropical sea.

Photo by Gethin Elias

The air here is clean there isn’t any major industry or any major roads; life here is tranquil. Lake Vyrnwy lies right on the edge of the area which can be classed as Celtic rainforest or Welsh Atlantic woodland. It feels too far east to me but if you look at it from the east coast of England I am sure that you would still class it as west Britain. Here at Lake Vyrnwy we are starting to find out that we do have plenty of lichen species that indicate welsh Atlantic woodland and a variety of some lichens will also indicate that your air is clean. Here are a few that you can find at Lake Vyrnwy.

Barnacle lichen (Thelotrema lepadinum), I am sure that you can see why it has been given this name (Photo by Gethin Elias)

This is Tree lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) it can be found in several places on the reserve. This is a true sign of clean air (Photo by Gethin Elias at Ganllwyd)

This is Script lichen (Graphis scripta), as the name suggests it looks like ancient script (Photo by Gethin Elias).

It’s a great time of year to look at lichens; soon the woods will once again be full of bird song and colour and the miracles of lichens will once again fade into the background.

Gethin Elias, Assistant Warden

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