Country Focus

Restoring Welsh Rivers summit - we speak to the Archbishop of Wales about why the Church in Wales is getting involved in tackling our waterways and we hear how the Dean of St David's in Pembrokeshire is "doing the little things" and caring for a small river that runs by the Cathedral.

and for our Bird of Conservation concern, we're on a farm in Pembrokeshire to feed the Yellowhammers.

Open to applicants between the ages of 25 and 45, each year the Nuffield Foundation offers people working in farming, horticulture, forestry or other countryside industries an opportunity to study and travel overseas. Scholars are selected with a view to developing tomorrow’s leaders within their individual business and the industry as a whole. Caroline Evans meets some of this year's scholars from Wales and hears about their experiences

The eight-toothed spruce bark beetle - landowners across Wales are urged to be on the lookout for signs of a pest that has been found in Monmouthshire for the first time.

Agricultural pollution - a three month ban on muck-spreading came into force across Wales this week. We hear what it means for the industry and the environment

A community wetland - how a Welsh housing group has helped its tenants save an area of wetland in Cynon Taf, which was once intended for housing.

and in fine voice at a church in Llangollen, there's a revival of the ancient art of Gregorian chanting

Bird Registration - from Tuesday, October 1st it will become a legal requirement for all bird keepers in Wales (and England) to register themselves with the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Lapwing - some of Wales’ leading ornithologists have been focusing on the plight of our bird populations for Country Focus and this month it's the lapwing brought to us by Dave Anning who is the site manager for a wet and windy RSPB Ynys-hir reserve on the Dyfi estuary

Celtic wildlfower - we meet the Swansea ecologist who's on a mission to save our wildflowers

Pasta a Mano - we hear how the pop-up pastaria from Ceredigion, that won the British Street Food Awards recently, now goes on to compete in next weekends' European finals in Germany. Chef Derw Robertson-Jacobs to hear about the secret to his success of using local Welsh ingredients combined with Italian cuisine.

Upper Wye restoration - a new project to help restore the upper reaches of the River Wye. Caroline Evans hears how to tackle one of the threats spreading down the river ....the invasive skunk cabbage

Waxcap Watch - can you help secure the future of fungi in the UK? With some species at risk of extinction the conservation charity Plant Life is urging people to get involved in recording waxcaps.

Boosting biodiversity in Denbighshire - we hear about the local authority's plans to plans to reintroduce and increase numbers of native plants and trees across the county, including the rare 'wild service', or 'chequers' trees, whose fruit used to be eaten by children as sweets!

Affineur of the year - refining cheese to it's full potential! We meet the winner of the title Owen Davies who took his inspiration from the mining heritage of Wales and applied it to maturing a cheddar in replicated “coal cave"

The social dimensions of Bovine TB - an annual conference at Aberystwyth's Centre of Excellence this week, will examine how bringing people together can help tackle TB control in cattle

A stables with a difference - how bitless bridles and a clicker, like those often used for training dogs are being used to train ponies in Pontypridd

and the Swansea canal - we meet the volunteers restoring nature to the waterway where once upon a time a hive of industry flowed.

Since 2007, Fishing for Schools has taken young people out of the classroom and into the countryside but it's more than getting them hooked on fishing. Founded by fly fisherman Charles Jardine it gives children a chance to learn outdoors, connect with nature and gain new skills and confidence. Caroline Evans joins children from Alway primary school, Newport, Gwent at the nearby Llyswerry Ponds for a lesson in Fishing!

The White Hart Inn in St Dogmaels has been part of the village for 250 years, so when last orders was called for the final time, villagers refused to accept the closure of their local. They joined forces to raise nearly £250,000 to buy it and nearly 5 years on it's become a thriving community owned pub... or should that be hub?!

Thanks to our somewhat damp climate, Wales is home to a staggering 850 different species of Bryophytes, representing three quarters of the total number (which is 1100) found in the UK as a whole. Bryophyte is the collective name for a group of plants that include mosses, liverworts and hornworts. This year the British Bryological Society is celebrates its hundreth birthday and has a variety of activities to mark the centenary, including designing a number of moss trails at Treborth Gardens in Bangor; the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire and also one in Harlech, Gwynedd. It's there Pauline Smith explores the wonderful world of bryology and goes "mossing"!

The national call to plant trees to fight climate change requires a good stock supply! This week we're at the largest commercial tree nursery in the UK – selling approximately 35 million trees a year from it's base just outside Wrexham. We've all heard the mantra "the right tree in the right place", well behind that is a lot of research and science. Caroline Evans visits Maelor Forest Nurseries at Bronington, close to the Welsh border, where they are sowing the seeds to success specialising in home grown trees.