Welsh Journals

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4. Concern was expressed about a recent alarmist article in 'Farmer's Weekly' with reference to Badgers and T.B. It was agreed that the Secretary should write to S.P.N.C. asking them to reply to this officially on behalf of the conservation movement. wSh future of 'Nature in Wales' and the possibility of support from all the Welsh Trusts was considered. Further discussions will take place 6. Possible sources of funds for nature conservation in Wales were discussed. An annual grant off32,000 for Trusts in England and Wales has recently been made available through S.P.N.C. and it was hoped that a fair proportion of this would be earmarked for use by Welsh Trusts 7. Other topics aired at the meeting included car rallying and disturbance to wildlife; river improvements and drainage; upgrading of green lanes to byway status. The varied agenda and wide ranging discussions reinforce the view that the A.T.N.C.W. is providing a useful forum and meeting point for all the Trusts in Wales. M.J.M. RARE VASCULAR PLANT SPECIES IN CULTIVATION The importance of Botanic Gardens in maintaining wild collected stocks of rare plants native in the British Isles is now widely appreciated. What may not be so well appreciated is that, for some time, a group of Botanic Gardens has been working together to ensure that as many of our rare species as possible are cultivated in this way and that, as far as possible the responsibility for collecting and maintaining stocks is allocated to Gardens within the area in which the species occur. The scheme has two main aims: first, to act as a reservoir of living material of native origin to be available if and when required for con- servation purposes; second, as a source of material for experimental work so that the need to collect specimens in the field for research purposes is increasingly reduced. A list of those rare species (as defined in Perring & Farrell, 1977, British Red Data Books: 1. Vascular Plants) held by Botanic Gardens is now prepared annually by the Biological Records Centre at Monks Wood Ex- perimental Station, and a copy will be sent to research workers, free of charge, on receipt of a self-addressed reply paid A5 envelope at BRC Monks Wood Experimental Station, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdonshire. F. H. PERRING