A plan to build a massive wind and solar farm in the Cambrian Mountains could threaten one of Wales' only red squirrel populations, ITV News' Wales Reporter, Rhys Williams, explains
It takes a real effort to reach Bryn Arau Duon.
The forest lies high in the foothills of the Cambrian Mountains, east of Lampeter, a patchwork of steep valleys and rounded hills. We didn't see a soul up there. The silence is striking.
The forest itself is a commercial conifer plantation where pine martens, birds of prey, and crucially, red squirrels, make their home. It's one of just three sites left in Wales where red squirrels can still be found.
But this remote woodland now sits at the centre of a growing debate.
Swiss-based renewable energy company Galileo Empower wants to build 19 wind turbines, each up to 230 metres tall, along with solar panels, a substation, and battery storage as part of a project called the Bryn Cadwgan Energy Park. The company says the site, already used for forestry, will help generate clean energy while tackling climate change.
Yet conservationists fear that building turbines here could come at too high a cost.
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales describes Bryn Arau Duon as a "rare refuge" for red squirrels, a place where the animals remain free from American grey squirrels, which spread disease and outcompete them for food.
The language from the trust has been unusually stark. It warns that the project could risk the destruction of this population of red squirrels in mid Wales.
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The Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership, which has worked in the area for more than two decades, says the forest's mature conifers are vital for the squirrels' survival, and that even if new trees are planted, it could take decades for them to grow into a suitable habitat.
Galileo says it is aware of the concerns and plans to safeguard wildlife by creating new broadleaved woodland, food sources, and canopy bridges to help squirrels move safely between trees. The company says the project can generate renewable energy while also enhancing biodiversity.
But this debate poses a wider question about how to balance the need for clean energy with the protection of fragile ecosystems.