How old colliery sites can be a haven for rare and diverse wildlife

Coal mining played a huge part in shaping the South Wales Valleys. Now the industry is virtually extinct, with few buildings remaining.

Black coal tips of shale dominated the landscape. Many have been transformed or removed, while others have been left alone, with nature taking over.

Old tips and colliery sites can be a haven for all kinds of wildlife and plantlife.

The geology and lack of soil can allow different types of plant to thrive.

Liam Olds is the founder of the Colliery Biodiversity Initiative.

His job is to catalogue and celebrate the species that live in these environments.

Campaigners want to see these habitats preserved, citing the many rare species that can thrive in them.

At the old Cwm Colliery tip alone, there are 53 varieties of bee!

The colliery closed in 1986, while the neighbouring coke works continued until 2002.

Since the closure of the coke works, there have been plans to redevelop the huge site, including landscaping the tip.

At Parc Slip near Bridgend, years of work have gone into transforming the old opencast mine into a giant nature reserve.

125 years ago, more than 100 men and boys lost their lives in an explosion underground.

Since the 1980s, the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales worked with the coal board to reclaim the site.

Watch the video report below: