This story was given to the press in 1996. In effect the clueless Celtic Energy devalued the grassland by instantly changing it from a rare type to a common type by removing one of the indicator plants of the ecological community. A copy of the article which subsequently appeared in the Western Mail can be found here Opencast Firm Mistook Rare Plants for Weeds .
Subsequently to this we have discovered another example of ecologically valuable plants in this case Marsh Ragwort being removed from the nature reserve. see
Celtic Energy Ragwort more damage to the Nature Reserve
Celtic Energy are damaging rare wet grasslands which were moved to make way for an opencast mine at Selar in the Neath Valley.
The company has been removing critically important wildflowers from the meadows. Wildlife experts from Friends of the Earth have discovered that they have been removing Meadow Thistles, a less prickly relative of the garden weed, from the site. The original Selar Site of Special Scientific interest was designated partly because of the internationally rare combination of Meadow Thistles with Purple Moor Grass. Such grassland is so rare that it is listed under the European Habitats Directive [1]
Roy Jones, Chairman of Swansea Friends of the Earth said,"This is appalling. It appears that they have mistaken these important plants for weeds. It begs the question as to who they are employing to do this work. Meadow thistles are very different from the weedy kinds. They have bristles rather than spines and apart from the flowers don't look like thistles at all. "
Some Devil's Bit Scabious the caterpillar foodplant of the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly [2] has also been pulled up. Meadow Thistle is also considered very important for the butterfly because it is thought it produces a very nutritious nectar.
Roy Jones added,"This kind of cavalier attitude towards wildlife is just typical of the attitude we have come to expect from the opencast industry."
[1] Purple Moor Grass/Meadow Thistle grassland (Molinia caerulea Cirsium dissectum grassland) is classified as M24 under the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) system. This is equivalent to the European Habitats Directive "Eumolinion" classification.
[2] The Marsh Fritillary (Eurodryas aurinia) is Britain's rarest native European butterfly (It is the only native butterfly listed under the EU Habitats Directive ) it is also listed under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, and the Bern Convention on Endangered European Wildlife.