CONSERVATIONISTS hope to arrest the decline of Gwent's traditional orchards through a project to encourage the planting of new ones, and support the management of those remaining.

Gwent Wildlife Trust's ambitious two-year project aims to map existing orchards, develop a network of owners and fruit buyers, and help schools, community groups and individuals create and sustain new orchards.

Gwent used to produce 60 per cent of orchard fruit grown in Wales, but its heyday as a fruit-producing area to rival Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Kent is long gone.

Up to 90 per cent of its orchards have been lost during the last 100 years, and with them an untold number of local fruit varieties.

"We've been looking at old maps and recent aerial photographs to pinpoint traditional orchards or their remnants," said Gwent Orchard Project officer Alice Britt.

"I'd like to have a complete map of orchards in Gwent and a database of owners, a network of interested people."

Apples and pears are the most common orchard fruits, but others include plums and damsons. Traditional orchards involve low intensity cultivation without synthetic pest- or herbicides.

"For our classification, an orchard is five or more trees. We'd love to hear from people who would like to get involved."

Contact Alice Britt on 01600 740600, e-mail abritt@gwentwildlife.org or visit www.gwentwildlife.org and follow the project link.