Landfill tax helps RSPB restore Oxfordshire floodplain

Work to restore an area of Oxfordshire farmland to floodplain has been helped by a grant funded by a landfill tax.

Bird protection charity RSPB bid for the £109,399 to improve breeding conditions for wading birds at its Otmoor reserve, near Oxford.

The money, distributed by not-for-profit business WREN, goes to heritage and environmental schemes within 10 miles of sites owned by waste firm WRG.

The restored marsh habitat will benefit lapwings, redshanks and snipe.

The RSPB, which has been improving the site for 13 years, said the soil condition needed more effort to allow wildlife to flourish.

The charity said hedgerows, ponds, lowland meadows and reedbeds would also benefit, helping almost 100 species of animals and plants.