A community project in Machynlleth has been recognised as the best of its kind in Wales.

Pennal 2050, a collaborative initiative to improve the area for nature and residents alike, was chosen as the winner in the Landscapes, Nature and Forestry section at the “Celebration of Rural Wales”.

The event was held in Builth Wells to mark 20 years of European funding.

Partneriaeth Pennal, a group of 40 innovative farming partners, is the lead organisation in Pennal 2050.

The five-year collaborative project has the support of Natural Resources Wales, Snowdonia National Park and Gwynedd County Council as well as local organisations such as Pennal Community Council, New Dovey Fishery Association, local schools and businesses.

Chair of the Pennal 2050 Steering Group, James Brunton, said: “It is great that our efforts have been recognised nationally by this award.

“A lot of hard work is going in to develop the various strands of our programme such as a ‘slo-flo’ scheme with 60 interventions of culverts, leaky dams and woody debris, placed in forestry and agricultural areas.

“It encourages water onto adjoining land, creating new habitats which may reduce the flow into the Dyfi below.”

The project is working with several ground-breaking international University-led projects which include research on remote sensing, tree canopy rainfall absorption and mapping for endangered species.

Pennal 2050 has also been visited by UK and international visitors, including a government representative from Northern India, keen to see at first-hand how community-led initiatives can work.

The project also funded the design and installation of a new, semi-circular landscape map.

Rhys Parry is chair of Partneriaeth Pennal and looks forward to the next stages of the project: “We still have a great deal we need to do to adapt to climate change and the challenges we are likely to face in this area in the future, including those of maintaining our culture, heritage and language.

“We also want to ensure that our children have the best skills and knowledge to invest in jobs and businesses which will benefit longer-term this part of rural Wales.”