Image credit: BBC/Gwyndaf Hughes
Article information Author: Georgina Ranade Post: BBC Climate Science Correspondent Reporting from Eli
May 25, 2024
A plant that was extinct in the wild has been reintroduced to mainland Britain. We can't tell you exactly where – we're keeping it a secret for your safety. It's just one tiny plant, but with one in six species at risk of extinction in the UK, you've got to start somewhere. We were there when pioneering horticulturist Robbie Blackhall Miles put this plant back into its native soil.
I first met Robbie at his nursery, where he grows endangered plants, tucked away in a quiet corner of North Wales.
The things he stores there are so valuable that they can't even be insured.
He asks me to be careful about how much information I reveal, as there is still a market for rare and specialised plants, which are often harvested illegally and can sell for thousands of pounds.
“There are only 30 of these trees left in the world,” he says, pointing to the pot.
Image credit: BBC/Gwyndaf Hughes
Image caption: Robbie Blackhall-Miles tends to rare plants at his specialist nursery
All around us are trays of seedlings, bags of soil on the floor, plants growing and flowering, with a thermometer hanging from the roof to make sure the plants don't get too hot, too cold, or too dry.
Robbie is tall and athletic and speaks with an excited voice. When I started researching this story, I found his name popping up again and again in the records of the Botanical Society. There are few people in England who know as much about plants as he does.
Image credit: BBC/Gwyndaf Hughes
He wanted to rescue animals as a child and after a short stint as a model he developed an interest in botany and now works for conservation charity PlantLife.
“If you think of UK biodiversity as a jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces are really important, but some are missing,” he says.
His goal is to work with the National Trust and Natural Resources Wales to restore some of the biodiversity by reintroducing the extinct rose-colored saxifrage – a plant he calls the jewel of the mountains – to Eryri and Snowdonia.
Image credit: BBC/Gundaf Hughes
Image caption: Robbie Blackhall Miles has been growing rose-colored saxifrage for 10 years.
The last time the rose-coloured saxifrage was seen growing wild in Britain was in 1962, somewhere in Cwm Idwal Nature Reserve, Elyri.
I wanted to see the place so Robbie and National Trust ranger Reece Weldon-Roberts took me and my colleague to Cwm Idaur.
We walked along the winding path around the lake to a place called Twll Du, or “Devil's Kitchen” which means ominous in English.
Robbie stopped every few steps to point out unusual plants that had survived.
By coincidence, I had been here before, but had been so busy climbing up the mountain cleft that I had completely forgotten about the precious creatures that lived beneath the rocks.
Image credit: BBC/Gwyndaf Hughes
Image caption: Victorian plant collectors came to Cwm Idwal, Elyri, to collect plants.
The rose-colored saxifrage is listed as extinct, but Robbie, an experienced climber, still double-checked: “I've been on a rope for six years looking for it, in case I'm wrong,” he says, pointing up the sheer cliffs.
“Rose saxifrage is the most native plant we have in the UK,” says Robbie, sitting on a rock and quietly taking in the dramatic scene.
It is a type of alpine plant that flourished when the north of Britain was frozen over during the Ice Age. After the glaciers melted, saxifrage persisted and thrived in the alpine environment.
However, its delicate appearance and beautiful flowers soon attracted plant collectors, particularly Victorians, who selected it for their private collections.
Habitat loss and poor grazing management in Elyri subsequently sounded the final death knell for the plant.
Their numbers fell dramatically and they eventually disappeared from mainland Britain.
The next part of the story has a folklore-like quality: In 1962, Dick Roberts, a teacher and conservationist, visited Cwm Idaur on a school trip.
He picked up a piece of a plant that had washed up on the road and put it in his pocket, not knowing what it was, but he took it home and grew it in his garden.
All the rose-coloured saxifrages we see on mainland Britain today come from that little plant, which saved it for future generations.About 10 years ago, Robbie received a cutting to look after.
“I'm so honored to be a part of Dick Roberts' legacy,” he says.
Image credit: BBC/Gwyndaf Hughes
In a caption for the image, Robbie described the plant's flowers as looking like “tiny hands reaching up towards the sky.”
It is extremely rare to be able to reintroduce a species that has genetic descendants from a native species.
In most cases, related species have been used, for example the European beaver was used to reintroduce beavers to the UK.
But Robbie said, holding it in his hands: “It's made from cut-outs of cut-outs of original Welsh material.”
In the decades since Dick Roberts arrived in Elyria, Britain's natural landscape has changed dramatically.
One in six species is at risk of extinction, and 19% of monitored species have been lost in the last 30-40 years, making the UK one of the most nature-depleted countries on earth.
I invited Julia Jones, professor of conservation at Bangor University, to Cwm Idwal to ask her how much of a difference restoring this tiny plant could make.
In reality, this alone will not transform Britain’s nature: conservation is incredibly complex and involves a lot of different tasks, including protecting habitats from climate change, pollution and intensive land use.
But Prof Jones said the reintroduction would act as a banner and “a reminder of how much we have lost”.
High-profile plant reintroductions are rare, and most work goes into reintroducing animals – Britain's best-known are probably the beaver and the white-tailed eagle – fascinating species that generally get people more excited than the plants.
Some scientists talk about “plant blindness” – the idea that people don't see the plants around them as important living things, despite the services they provide to our ecosystems and the role they play in producing medicines. Instead, they are seen as wallpaper in the natural environment.
Image credit: BBC/Gwyndaf Hughes
Image caption: Robbie says planting wild rose saxifrage was the highlight of his career
Finally, a few days ago, the moment that came 10 years ago arrived.
Several people gathered in the rain at Elili's secret location, including ranger Reece Weldon-Roberts, who plans to keep a close eye on the plants, keeping an eye out for collectors.
“I hope that one day it will be commonplace and everyone who visits will be able to appreciate it,” he says.
For saxifrage observer Robbie Blackhall Miles, it's a big moment.
Can it survive outdoors after 60 years in cultivation?
He carries a crate of plants from his car.
It has changed a lot since I last saw it, with long stalks growing from the dense leaves and white, five-petaled flowers.
“I love these flowers, they're shining right at me,” Robbie says.
After crossing the river, Robbie crouches down and strips away the springy grass and soil. As he digs, he hits a rock. “It's OK. Saxifragus in Latin means to break rocks.”
A few minutes later, the little mountain jewel was back in the soil.
Robbie is visibly overcome with emotion: reintroducing something to his country, to the landscape he loves, is the highlight of his career.
“There's a wonderful Welsh word, 'adferiad,' which means reparation or repair,” he continues. “I'm absolutely elated.”
Additional reporting by Gwyndaf Hughes