Somerset nature reserves given £800k funding boost

Predator-proof fencing will help protect new areas across 290 hectares (about 720 acres) of saltmarsh, helping to naturally manage the vegetation

Hundreds of hectares of wetland habitat across Somerset are set to be restored and enhanced following £800,000 of funding from the government.

The award to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) will be used to boost local biodiversity.

Site Manager at WWT Steart Marshes and Bridgewater Bay, Alys Laver, said it would "lead to a greater variety and abundance of wildlife".

The project, called Wetter for Waders, is funded by Species Survival Fund.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said the funding would "enable local authorities, landowners, farmers, and our protected landscapes organisations to restore nature at scale and provide valuable green jobs in the process".

As well as creating new saline lagoons, scrapes and ditches across WWT Steart Marshes and Bridgewater Bay National Nature Reserve (NNR), the project will restore at least one "ghost pond" previously lost on the land, on top of six others that will be improved.

'Closer to nature'

A new boardwalk across the saltmarsh at WWT Steart Marshes will aim to get visitors get closer to nature, and learn about the specialist wildlife of the saltmarsh ecosystem.

The sites will also host a series of willow and art workshops for the local community, producing huge wildlife sculptures and murals, and will hold sessions for local landowners on how to create wetland features.

"Making the landscape wetter again will protect the internationally significant numbers of waders roosting within the estuary over winter and further support wider nature recovery plans across Somerset," said Ms Laver.

The Species Survival Fund, a partnership between the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, has seen grants of up to £3m awarded across England for habitat creation and restoration projects to run over the next two years.