Today marks the beginning of Wales Biodiversity Week, which this year runs from 4 to 12 June, so it seems appropriate to celebrate one of the most biodiverse places in Wales, indeed in the whole of Britain, Kenfig National Nature Reserve. Kenfig is primarily a huge undulating sand dune system, though the reserve encompasses a range of habitats, from lagoons and salt marshes through bogs and fens to broad-leaved deciduous woodland. And Kenfig Pool is the largest freshwater lake in south Wales.

Nature lovers can bird-watch from the hides around the pool, where damsel and dragonflies also abound during the summer months. For the plant-lover an estimated 550 species, including the rare Fen Orchid, grow within the reserve, and some very rare fungi make their home amongst the marram grass. If critters are your thing, there are bees and butterflies, (pink!) grasshoppers and weevils, newts and lizards, and there are even reports of otters, though you’d have to be exceptionally lucky to see them.

Kenfig is a shining example of the biodiversity to be found in a coastal environmental and well worth a visit or six!