A STUDENT swapped his home for life in a converted ambulance stationed in Monmouthshire woodland, to help save one of Wales' rarest moths.

Hendre Woods was recently the location for Bangor University student Joel Walley, bringing him closer to the Drab Looper, whose regular haunts have declined to only two in Wales.

As part of research for his Masters in Conservation and Land Management, the 22-year-old is comparing conditions in the Forestry Commission Wales-managed woodland with another stronghold for the species in Herefordshire.

Over the past few months, he has hacked through the brambles to find the moth's preferred breeding sites, key to its survival.

Mr Walley began with mapping its habitat and looking at environmental factors that affect it this summer.

Emergency management work by Forestry Commission Wales and Butterfly Conservation Wales has been carried out in the woodland over the past two winters to improve the moth's natural habitat.

The student's work will be crucial in determining what conditions the species prefers, so that the organisations can carry out further work to keep it breeding in Wales.

Mr Walley, who submits his thesis in September, said he enjoyed hiding out in the Monmouthshire woodland.

He said: "The moths have a limited flight area and it is weather dependent when you can survey them. So on good weather days I could get out there straight away. It has been very enjoyable to spend time in the woods and nice to get out of the lecture theatre."