Glastir, ice cream and reindeer

What next for the environment in Wales as Glastir gets an underwhelming response? Cream of the crop - the Welsh ice cream named champion of champions. And how a pair of reindeer are a dream come true for an eleven year old girl from Ceredigion

Last updated: 28 November 2010

Country Focus - Sunday 28th November at 07.00am presented by Rachael James; repeated 5.30am Monday 29th November 2010

Critics of the Welsh Assembly Government's new sustainable land management scheme, Glastir claim their fears have been vindicated with the announcement that WAG only two thousand nine hundred and four applications to join in the first year, have been made. ut farmers and landowners don't seem to have shared the ministers optimism - so what implications will that have for wildlife and our biodiversity?

A reward of up to 1,000 is being offered for information about poachers on one of North Wales most important rivers. Environment Agency Wales appealed for people to contact Crimestoppers anonymously if they have any information about people who are engaged in poaching on the Conwy or its tributaries.

In this age of recycling most of us now know what to do with those empty beer and coke cans... but one environmentally friendly message is to reuse. So how about smelting the aluminium and other non-ferrous metals and making art with it? That's what artist Dawny Tootes does and she's asking people to bring their non-metallic metals to the Coach House in St Dogmaels to be melted down and used in creative workshops. And the artist will be working at St Dogmael's Abbey Dec 11th and 12th.

It's beat off some stiff competition, but Minoli's of Machen's vanilla ice cream was recently crowned the Champion of Champions at this year's National Ice Cream Competition. It's the third time it's won the award -- the first time that feat has been achieved. We take a flavour of the business.

Whatever the must-have toy is this Christmas for one eleven year old girl from Ceredigion, her list for Santa for the last few years has included just one thing - a reindeer. This year, Lottie Sweet's wish finally came true after she saved up enough pocket money to buy a pair of them from Finland. Now she's busy taking orders to appear with her fledging herd at local festive events. Lottie introduced the reindeer she keeps at the family's smallholding at Dihewyd, near Aberaeron.