Diolch, Diprwy Lywydd. I'm grateful for the opportunity today to celebrate the unique and historic Gwent levels. It is one of the largest areas of coastal and floodplain grazing in the UK, made up of a rich patchwork of different habitats and landscape running along the Severn estuary coastline, from Cardiff and Newport, past the second Severn crossing and beyond. A considerable area of the levels falls within the boundaries of Newport East—sites of special scientific interest and an area of natural beauty with greatly significant environmental, social, cultural and economic value for the south-east region and Wales as a whole.

This land and sea has been utilised by human kind at least since the Mesolithic era. Prehistoric Ice and Bronze Age footprints and artefacts surviving in the Severn estuary mud are still revealing clues about how this landscape has been used with the coming of every new tide. Indeed, the seascape is full of geological clues to its past and the era before human exploitation. The red cliffs rising out of the salt marshes at Black Rock are rich with the fossils of the plesiosaur and insects from when the area was transformed from a hot, arid desert to a warm tropical sea, approximately 200 million years ago.

Archaeologically, the intertidal mudflats have revealed the remains of Bronze Age settlement sites as evidenced by human footprints, lithic finds, butchered animal bone, brushwood trackways and round houses. Iron Age finds have been discovered at Goldcliff, with rectangular timber buildings, trackways, and fish traps on a shelf of fen peat.

Evidence of the area's maritime significance has also been uncovered. Archaeologists discovered fragments of a Bronze Age boat near Caldicot castle, dating from around 1,800 years BC, and the remains of fourth century Romano-Celtic Barland's Farm boat was discovered near Magor, remarkably intact and sharing some features with boats from south west Brittany, described by Julius Caesar in 56 BC.

These important finds, to name just a few, emphasise the noteworthy state of preservation of archaeological material in and around the levels. Historical accounts reveal the many human stories of the hard and physical struggle necessary to maintain this unique landscape over many centuries. Much of it was hand drained, using basic tools until as late as the 1960s. The character of local communities reflects the ancient connection between people and the Severn estuary. It's importance for maritime trade blossomed from the medieval period onwards, and particularly following the industrial revolution that transformed Cardiff into one of the biggest coal ports in the world. Communities at Goldcliff, Redwick, Rumney and Peterstone were serviced by the small, traditional landing places for cross-channel trades. Many locals will recall the skeletal traditional tidal baskets used for catching salmon. Remains of the supporting structure are still visible onshore at low tide. Today, the Black Rock fishermen are the last to use lave nets in Wales. The tradition has been passed down through the generations and now the fishermen are actively promoting the heritage of the fishery as a tourist attraction in their aim to keep the history and practice alive for future generations to enjoy. The area is truly a landscape handcrafted by the communities that have lived there since its reclamation from the estuary that started in Roman times, and these stories of people's connections with their environment should be celebrated.