Covid: Wales' new woodlands to remember lost loved ones

Sites will be created at Wrexham's sprawling Erddig country estate, as well in Carmarthenshire and south east Wales

New woodlands are to be created in memory of people who died from coronavirus during the pandemic.

Two will be planted at the National Trust's Erddig estate in Wrexham, and at a site at Brownhill in Carmarthenshire's Tywi Valley.

A memorial woodland is also set to be created in south east Wales after a location has been identified.

Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford said they would be a "living memorial to all those who have died".

"They will also be a symbol of the strength the people of Wales have shown over the past two years," he said.

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A total of 9,477 deaths involving Covid have occurred during the pandemic in Wales - with 79 actually occurring, rather than just being registered, over the most recent week.

The woodland sites are to become part of a planned National Forest for Wales.

Natural Resources Wales chief executive Clare Pillman pledged to "engage with local communities and our partners to plan and design the woodland, shaping with them safe and accessible spaces, where people of all ages can come to remember and reflect for years to come".

"Our ambition for this commemorative woodland is for it to become a living, growing area for all the community to enjoy," she said.

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