A WETLANDS conservation project in North Yorkshire has been given 132,800 to enhance wildlife

The Lower Ure Conservation Trust Swale and Ure Wshlands project is one of the first environmental projects awarded a grant from the government’s £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

The money will be used at the nature reserve at Nosterfield, which is one of the premier wetland havens in North Yorkshire and situated in the Swale/Ure Washlands between Ripon and Bedale.

LUCT director Simon Warwick said: "We know that many of the wetland habitats that existed in North Yorkshire two and three hundred years ago are now very rare.

"Many of the meadows and mires that existed in abundance have been obliterated. Land has been drained and dug up.

"We are recreating some of those habits here at Nosterfield and this grant will help to significantly increase the scale of our work.”

Central to the scheme will be the appointment of a project officer, and upgrade of volunteer facilities as well as involving more people in practical conservation work, with particular opportunities for student placements and training.

Developed from disused sand and gravel quarry workings, Nosterfield Nature Reserve is home to important breeding populations of birds such as lapwing, curlew, redshank and avocet as well as numerous orchids and rare invertebrates.

In a survey conducted two years ago more than 1,100 species of animals, birds, insects and plants were recorded on the site in a single 24-hour period, proving it to be one of the most wildlife-rich areas of the country.

A thriving rare plant nursery has been established at Nosterfield where up to 10,000 plants are now ready to be transplanted. Work to plant rare sedges and bog-loving flowers for water retention and carbon capture helps to mitigate the damaging effects of climate change. The grant from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund will fund the resources needed to achieve this.