Charity to create 'life-saving' wetland for birds

The Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) wants to create winter wetland areas to protect declining numbers of wading birds

A charity wants to create a "life-saving" winter wetland area for wading birds that are in decline.

The Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) wants to raise £8,000 to create the space at Lark Rise Farm, near Barton, Cambridgeshire.

Another wetland habitat will also be created at the CRT’s Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset.

The charity said the birds have faced issues caused by loss of habitat.

Wading birds need wet areas with soft, muddy ground to feed over winter and the charity said not enough was being done to protect their habitat in Cambridgeshire.

It hopes the areas will help species including the lapwing and black-tailed godwit, as well as attract other species of wading birds.

Helena Darragh, head of conservation and land management for CRT, said it would be "a simple, yet potentially life-saving feature on our farmland".

She said: "Without areas of damp grassland, wading birds struggle to find food over the colder winter months."

Helen Darragh said birds were struggling to find food in winter due to a loss of habitat

Ms Darragh said natural habitats were being lost and birds could not "keep pace with the rapid loss of safe spaces to feed and rest undisturbed".

Work on the wetland habitats will start next year but it will cost about £13,000 to carry out the necessary survey work and prepare the land.

A grant will cover part of the work and the charity hopes to have the habitats in Cambridgeshire and Dorset ready by winter 2025.

The areas will be created by making shallow channels and pools on grassland fields.

They are then connected to existing watercourses to allow water to flow into them, creating muddy puddles and wet grassland.