Wales Annual Meeting & AGM

The Committee for Wales organises a meeting every year in a different county of Wales; it usually last several days and includes a programme of excursions, talks and book sales, as well as an AGM.

Wales AGM 2024

The 2024 Wales Annual Meeting exhibition and AGM will be based at Swansea University, Bay campus, South Wales, SA1 8EN.

The theme will be brown field and coal spoil habitats, otherwise known as open mosaic habitat on previously developed land. Or perhaps in the old days and less generously – ‘wasteland’. Some of the most diverse habitat, currently, and not just for flowering plants – invertebrate and fungi diversity is often high at many sites.

A preliminary programme includes:

  • Friday pm: Visit to Crymlyn Burrows SSSI to take a look at some dune habitat next door and hopefully spot some (Sea Stock) Matthiola sinuata and look at some of the management / restoration work here.
  • Field visit to Baglan (and possibly Port Talbot). A vast area of currently undeveloped brownfield with some amazing juxtapositions of species from wet and dry habitats with a sprinkling of dune species. Expect to see some of the largest amounts of (Basil Thyme) Clinopodium acinos, you will ever see and other species such as (Hare’s foot Clover) Trifolium arvense, (Wall Bedstraw) Galium parisiense We should have time to take a look at Baglan dunes as well on this day
  • On the other day we will visit some of the most diverse coal spoil sites in the Valley’s where we should see (Small Cudweed) Logfia minima, (Pearly Everlasting) Anaphalis margaritacea, (Southern Marsh Orchid) Dactylorhiza praetermissa and hybrids. Also, possibly some oddities like (Blue-eyed grass) Sisyrnchium bermudiana and (Round-leaved Wintergreen) Pyrola rotundifolia.
  • Evening talks including a keynote talk by Kevin McGinn of National Botanic Garden Wales; Laura Jones (also at the science centre within National Botanic Garden Wales); Lizzie Wilberforce (Head of Plantlife Cymru) will tell us about some of the exciting work that Plantlife is involved in across Wales;  County Recorder Julian Woodman and others in the plant recording community in Glamorgan will give a talk on aspects of plant recording, species and sites in Glamorgan; and there will be workshops (so far Andy Jones has offered Myosotis)
  • The BSBI Wales AGM
  • Exhibits and posters prepared by members (this is a valued part of any AGM; you are encouraged to contribute)
  • We hope to have a book stall.

Use the button below to book. Accommodation is reserved at the Bay Campus, booking deadline 30th April.

A final programme will be available in due course and will be emailed to participants prior to the event. Evening meals and breakfast will be on the campus. A bar is available, a small shop and a coffee shop (Costa), use of a gym can be arranged. The campus is right on the coast with access to Swansea Bay and Crymlyn Burrows SSSI. Thirty single occupancy en-suite rooms have been booked, adjoining rooms can be arranged, as can requirement for ground floor room or increased accessibility.

Organiser: Julian Woodman (VCR v.c.41 (east).

BSBI Wales AGM 2023

The reorganised AGM was held on 11th November at 10am by Zoom.

All members in Wales were able to attend and vote. In addition members could nominate individuals to join the committee. Nominations for membership of the Committee had to be in writing, with the candidate's consent, signed by two members and sent to the Chair, John Palmer (jpp@totalise.co.uk).

Herewith are the AGM Agenda and Chair's report. A link to join the meeting was sent to all members in Wales and to all Welsh VCRs.

BSBI Wales Annual Meeting

Update 31/07 - Meeting Cancelled

The organising team are sorry to report that the accommodation for the Wales Annual Meeting has been cancelled at short notice by the provider due to a health and safety issue. Given the lateness of this notice, the decision has been taken to cancel the planned meeting and AGM in Montgomeryshire. Alternative arrangements will be made for the AGM and all ticket bookers will be refunded. For any additional queries, please contact sarah.woods@bsbi.org.

The 2023 BSBI Wales Annual Meeting, exhibition and AGM together with the associated field excursions, lectures and workshops will take place from 2nd to 4th August at Gregynog Hall (near Newtown) in Montgomeryshire. The agenda for the AGM is available here.

There will be a wetlands theme to this event - here is the draft programme.

Bookings for the 2023 Wales Annual Meeting have now closed. If you are interested in joining the meeting as a resident, please contact the Organising Secretary, gillian.foulkes@yahoo.co.uk in case any more places become available due to cancellation. If you wish to participate as a non-resident there is a waiting list, but you can ask to join this by emailing the address above.

BSBI Wales Annual Meeting & AGM 2022

The 2022 BSBI Wales Annual Meeting, exhibition and AGM together with the associated field excursions was held on Friday 10th - Sunday 12th June 2022 based at Bangor University.

Around 50 participants enjoyed excellent talks by Robbie Blackhall-Miles on Conserving Wales Rarest Plants and Colin French who charted the work involved in producing the recent Flora of Cornwall.

The weekend included the following field visits to local sites of botanical interest:

  • Treborth Botanic Garden
  • The Great Orme – limestone habitats
  • Moelyci – wet grasslands
  • Cors Bodeilio- species rich fen
  • Cwm Idwal – upland vegetation and arctic alpines
  • Morfa Aber- coastal vegetation

We are very grateful to the owners of these sites and excursion leaders for facilitating what were very enjoyable visits. Reports of field visits can be accessed  here and will be available in the  BSBI Yearbook (members-only) and Welsh Bulletin in due course.

Wales Annual Meeting 2021

Due to restrictions in Wales around Covid, the Committee for Wales had to do things differently in 2021 so they organised the first ever online Wales Annual Meeting & AGM! It was held on Saturday 3rd July 2021 and attracted 36 participants. The great advantage of online events, however, is that recordings could be made of all the talks: these are available to watch (for the first time or again) by following the links below.

Wales Annual Meeting 2021 programme

Welcome & Introduction by BSBI Chief Executive Julia Hanmer

Conserving upland plants: a great talk by Barbara Jones about conserving and restoring upland plants

Grassland plants of the British and Irish lowlands: Stuart Smith talks about the work underlying the recently published BSBI book on Grassland plants of the British and Irish lowlands

Welsh AGM 2021: Stephanie Tyler chairs the 2021 Welsh AGM

BSBI Wales Annual Meeting & AGM 2020

The Committee for Wales took the decision to cancel the 2020 Annual Meeting and all the planned excursions and to hold the 2020 AGM via email.

BSBI Wales Annual Meeting & AGM 2019

In 2019, the BSBI Wales Annual Meeting & AGM was held in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, and was organised by Richard and Kath Pryce, the joint County Recorders for Carmarthenshire. The meeting ran from Tuesday 21st to Thursday 23rd May and attendees also explored the highlights of the county's flora during three field days. These were to Burry Port, Capel Dyddgen and Pembrey Burrows taking in coasts, woods and both acid and basic meadows. Some of the plants seen are pictured on this page (hover over the image to see the caption). You can read more about the Annual Meeting field trips here. 

Presentation from the 2019 Annual Meeting

Click on the link to view or download the presentation: An introduction to Validation from the Wales Meeting 2019

BSBI Wales Annual General Meeting 2018

In 2018 the Welsh AGM was held over the weekend of 17th-19th August in Cardiganshire at Aberystwyth on the University Campus, with a superb range of species and habitats within easy access. The line-up of speakers included Ray Woods, and there were workshops on plant identification (including vegetative keys with John Poland), exhibits (coastal plant variants and Forget-me-nots etc.) and visits to the University Herbarium, Botanic Gardens and landscaped grounds.

Previous Wales Annual Meetings

  • 2017 - Flintshire (VC51)
  • 2016 - Brecon (VC42)
  • 2015 - Plas Tan-y-Bwlch (VC48)
  • 2014 - Tintern (VC35)
  • 2013 - Beaumaris (VC52)
  • 2012 - Llangollen (VC50)
  • 2011 - Dale Fort (VC45)