Highlighting Publications from 2025: The environmental and economic legacy of Wales' industrial past. Coastal Tales: Kilvey Hill (Swansea) and the Teifi as Projects of Contentious Urban Woodland and River Restoration

Highlighting Publications: The environmental and economic legacy of Wales' industrial past. Coastal Tales: Kilvey Hill (Swansea) and the Teifi as Projects of Contentious Urban Woodland and River Restoration

Authors: Gareth Thomas; Professor Luci Attala; Nigel Robins; Professor Louise Steel. 

In a significant submission to the UK Parliament, a transdisciplinary team challenge traditional "top-down" approaches to environmental restoration, arguing that the true value of Wales’ industrial legacy lies as much in its "intangible" culture as in its ecology; demonstrating the value of local, historical, and cultural stories to foster climate change adaptation and coastal resilience.

The paper was submitted as written evidence for the Welsh Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament, published 19 March 2025.

The Core Argument: Ecological Restoration and Cultural Preservation

The research critiques the tendency to view post-industrial sites simply as "polluted eyesores" that need to be "fixed" with commercial or technocratic solutions.

Instead, they highlight two key locations as case studies:

• Kilvey Hill (Swansea): Once a site of heavy copper smelting, the hill was reforested in the 1960s to stabilise toxic soil. Today, it is a thriving urban woodland. The researchers argue that attempts to "restore" it to an idealised pre-industrial state or convert it for short-term tourism (such as speculative commercial developments) risk destroying the unique "hybrid" ecosystem and the social value as recreational sanctuary it provides for local communities, who have reclaimed the land over decades.
• The Teifi (and Towy) Rivers: Drawing on 2024 fieldwork, the researchers highlight the Carmarthenshire Coraclers. These traditional river-goers hold "intangible heritage"; generational knowledge of water quality, fish behaviour, and river cycles that should guide modern environmental policy.

Why "Intangible Heritage" Matters

Professor Louise Steel, Principal Investigator for Coastal TALES, explains that traditional knowledge isn't just about the past; it is a tool for the future. By listening to the stories and practices of those who have lived alongside these changing environments for generations, policymakers can find more sustainable and inclusive ways to adapt to climate change.

"Our research is increasingly demonstrating the unique value of intangible cultural heritage...which can help people innovate change and adapt to environmental uncertainty." Professor Louise Steel

Conclusion for UK Parliament

The team argues that restoration must be community-led. "Successful and inclusive restoration efforts must safeguard the intangible heritage of traditional users and local communities, ensuring those with generational ties to these environments remain integral to their future." 

The paper concludes that prioritising long-term social and ecological value over "speculative short-term economic gains" is the only way to ensure that Wales' industrial legacy becomes something that is treasured by future generations.

Coastal TALES 

This submission is a direct output of the Coastal TALES project (Telling Adaptations: Living Environmental Stories for Coastal Resilience) a three-year international initiative funded by the Belmont Forum. 

The project spans three distinct coastal regions:

• Wales: The revival of local coastal heritage foods is foregrounded in coastal southwest Wales, with an emphasis on learning how heritage stories can drive sustainable adaptation. 
• Dublin Bay, Ireland: Applying local and traditional knowledge for the coastal restoration of Dublin In Dublin Bay. Mapping coastal changes through oral histories and folklore.
• Kodiak Island, Alaska: Exploring indigenous commercial fishing and ancestral resilience, encouraging youth to draw on ancestral knowledge as a means to forge environmentally sustainable communities and lifeways.

Presented at COP29, the Coastal TALES project aims to demonstrate how heritage stories can drive actionable, nature-based solutions by transforming how communities approach climate resilience through the blending of past practices with future-focused solutions.

The Coastal TALES project emphasises that understanding and revitalising, rather than ignoring, historical connections to the environment can provide essential tools for modern sustainability challenges; a principle directly evidenced in this submission to UK Parliament, which demonstrates how Wales’ own industrial and intangible heritage is not merely a relic of the past, but a living root system for a resilient and community-led future.