Dwr Cymru’s Elan Valley Visitor Centre has partnered up with a Powys school to provide eco-friendly outdoor learning.

The visitor centre has donated a number of beech tree rounds to Crossgates School, allowing the pupils to use these for their outdoor sessions.

These sizable rounds are set to be used by the youngsters as either seats or tables.

Dŵr Cymru ranger Beth Rees explained the initiative: "We came up with the idea of donating felled wood on an Outdoor Learning Practitioner training course, when fellow course mate from Crossgates Primary School, mentioned that their existing rounds were rotting and no longer usable.

"As we were felling beech trees the next day, we thought that while the brash could be left as habitat, we could donate some beech rounds for the children to enjoy."

The rounds are for outdoor sessions    (Image: Dwr Cymru)

The youngsters at the school have been enjoying the new space saying: "The log area is good for talking to friends and playing," a learner named Mia,

Honor, another pupil, said: "The log area is a lovely place to calm down and relax."

While Lowri agreed with her pupils and said: "walking round on and acting like their stepping stones."

The beech trees that have been donated were felled along with others near the Dol y Mynach Reservoir, as part of ongoing efforts to preserve the Celtic Rainforests in the Elan Valley.

Beech trees, while native to the UK, are not native to Powys and when they fall, the leaves cover the ground in leaf littler, and smother mousses and lichens growing on the floor.

There are consistent efforts to preserve the Celtic Rainforests, involving the controlling of invasive species such as bracken and Rhododendron, and the practice of halo thinning.

This includes the removal of smaller saplings and trees beneath a mature tree to reduce competition and stimulate wildlife growth such as wood warblers, pied flycatchers, and redstart.