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The military firing range which sprawls over 6,000 acres of countryside on the Castlemartin peninsula is one of the most heavily used in the country.

Sixty-two-tonne tanks frequently rumble across the range and soldiers are put through their paces as they prepare for the day when they will be in a real-life combat situation.

It's somewhat surprising then to discover than that range is home to 5% of the UK's entire chough population and that it has thriving colonies of rare dune bugs. The endangered Marsh Fritillary butterfly can be found fluttering her wings in these parts.

There is a wealth of archaeological features including Bronze Age burial mounds and access, although restricted, means that walkers, fishermen and climbers flock here in their dozens.

For most of us the words military firing range conjure up images of barbed wire fences and desolate acres with rusting hulks of metal that act as targets.

The truth behind the security fence at Castlemartin Range couldn't be more different.

This Range was taken over for military training in 1939 and purchased by the MOD in 1948 which meant the land was never intensively farmed. The result is a haven for wildlife and vast tracts of land that have been left to nature.

But the real driver for both preserving and opening up this range to the public has been an Integrated Land Management Plan (ILMP), a partnership between the Ministry of Defence, the Countryside Council for Wales, Cambria Archaeology and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

Commandant, Colonel Johnny Rogers, who is in overall charge of everything that goes on at Castlemartin, Penally and Manorbier ranges, says all the stakeholders had a major input in how the plan was drawn up.

"Very rigorously each year we identify the objectives we want to achieve," he says. "We put money towards those objectives if money is what is needed and most important of all we make certain that all the works that need to be done can be fitted in around the military firing programme."

The news that the range was recently awarded the MOD's prestigious Silver Otter Award for conservation was testimony to an approach which does work.

The MOD is restricted to firing for 44 weeks of the year, but, within that framework, usage is increasing yearon- year as regiments are called up to Iraq and Afghanistan . Part of predeployment training is to carry out a live firing training package.

The range is one of very few sites where soldiers can fire live ammunition at a small arms level. In the next few years, usage is expected to increase because parts of the British army, currently stationed in Germany, will return to home soil.

But with the military's very presence credited with nurturing the range into the conservation haven it is today, this is not regarded as a threat.

Bob Haycock, of the Countryside Council for Wales based at Stackpole, says the MOD cares for the land in such a way that its presence had been beneficial.

"There have been no chemical fertilisers used here so it is seminatural, it's a brilliant area for wildlife," he says.

"Had it not become a military range when it did in the late 1930s then it would have gone through the agricultural revolution and been intensively managed."

From the CCW's point of view, Castlemartin Range is one of the key areas for wildlife in South Wales.

The diversity of wildlife is huge, from 21 pairs of rare chough breeding on the cliff-top grassland to vast open grassland areas that are nectar sources for a whole range of bees, butterflies and rare insects.

"It is very difficult to find areas as large as this that have not been modified," says Mr Haycock.

The birds adjust to the noise of the firing, but one of the key components to protecting their habitat is the grazing of the range by sheep and cattle.

Sheep have been coming to the range from the Preselis since 1947 and cattle graze the more enclosed areas throughout the year.

Without grazing, many of the conservation features would not have survived. "The grazing is so important," says Lisa Payne, who manages it on behalf of Defence Estates.

Another extremely important aspect is that the livestock keep the range in a condition that's fit for purpose for soldiers to train on. Without livestock, huge sums of money would have to be spent on mechanically clearing bracken and other overgrowth.

The range is protected as a national level; it is included in the Coastal Dunes and Cliffs triple SSI and is part of an internationally-designated area of special conservation.

Across the UK, the MOD is committed to getting 95% of its triple SSIs in favourable condition by 2010.

Castlemartin is already in good condition and when you bear in mind that it is one of the most intensively used army ranges in the UK that's quite an achievement.

Nicky Hawkeswood, natural environmental adviser for defence estates, describes it as a good example of how an integrated approach can work. An ecological sensitivity plan is available for all users of the range so it is immediately obvious to people who look at it where the sensitive sites are.

"We can use it to focus military training on areas that are less sensitive," she says.

As well as rare wildlife and a stunning landscape, the range also has important sites of archaeological interest, including Bronze Age burial sites which honour the dead.

Polly Groom, archaeologist with the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, which has an input into the ILMP, says a series of checks and controls give protection to certain sites.

Good communication makes this system very effective, she says, describing by example a project to restore an ancient burial mound, which is also home to a rare species of dune bug. "By infilling the erosion we were taking away some of the dune bugs' habitat which wasn't very good for the eco-system," says Polly.

"By consulting with the CCW when we were sourcing the material infill the erosion it was a win-win situation."

The fact that this burial mound and the acres of stunning scenery is behind a security fence doesn't mean that it is only the military that are able to enjoy it.

Every year, National Park ranger Lynne Ferrand, whose post is also funded by the MOD and the CCW, leads a series of walks on the range.

There is also a system of controlled access in which permits are issued to climbers, surfers and fishermen.

For obvious reasons, the public are not allowed onto the range when there is live firing but, because this doesn't take place on Bank Holidays, weekends and during the evenings, there are opportunities for access.

This is very different to the years when the range was first established and no access was permitted.

"As safety has allowed more of the range has been opened up to the public, more access is available," says Lynne.

So the public as well as soldiers can enjoy the charm of this beautiful stretch of coastal countryside.

Colonel Rogers says every soldier who trains here recognises what a special place it is. "We are really lucky in the army to be able to train here,"

he says. "This place is unique, extremely special, and in my view it is that way because the army is here."

4:25pm Monday 3rd December 2007

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