A nesting tower to provide homes for threatened species of wildlife is now in place within the Llandrindod Wells Lake Local Nature Reserve.

The Llandrindod Wells Lake Local Nature Reserve unveiled its newest feature on Friday (March 15), a nesting tower designed to provide nesting places for swifts, house martins and other small birds.

Swifts and house martins were both added to the Red List of Threatened Species for the first time in 2021 due to worsening declines in breeding populations.

The tower even features a solar powered Swift Caller system to help attract swifts to the new nest tower as they look for nesting sites in May for later in the year.

The tower could also provide roosting spaces for bats, such as the Common Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelles, as the 12 species of bat found in Powys are all protected.

Powys County Council said the species' decline is the result of several factors, such as a lack of nesting sites, loss of habitat and declines in insects which are a vital food source.

Cllr Jackie Charlton, cabinet member for a greener Powys, said: “Despite its abundance of countryside and open spaces, even in our idyllic and rural county of Powys the decline in nature and wildlife is still a huge issue.

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“It is estimated that one in six of Wales’ species are at risk of extinction and that over the past 50 years 73 species have already become extinct and a further 666 species are threatened with extinction.

“We must do all we can to help reduce this decline and the installation of this nesting tower in Llandrindod Wells is just one of the ways that the Powys Nature Partnership is taking action and supporting nature recovery in Powys.”

The Powys Nature Partnership is a group of organisations and individuals working together to coordinate nature recovery actions in Powys with the aim of halting and reversing declines in biodiversity across the county.

The tower was designed by biodiversity staff at the council, as well as the information panel detailing the species that will use the tower in the meadow alongside Grosvenor Road, with funds provided by The Welsh Government’s Local Places for Nature fund.