Wildlife and bird watching in Oxfordshire
Major acquisition for the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust
With just under one week until the deadline, the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has managed to raise enough money from a successful public appeal to be able to buy a piece of precious floodplain meadow habitat at Gallows Bridge Farm on the Bucks/Oxon border.
BBOWT has now raised £850,000 to buy the land on the Upper River Ray thanks to generous donations from the public and members, from Australia to Guernsey. The campaign got off to a good start with a legacy and a pledge of £200,000 from the Landfill Communities Fund of Waste Recycling Group Ltd (WRG), distributed by WREN. Other pledges include £344,083 from The Tubney Charitable Trust towards purchase and restoration of the land. Securing these major grants has been dependent on BBOWT finding the remaining funds for the purchase of this site. This has only been possible due to the generosity of the public helping the Trust to exceed its appeal target of £150,000.
With just under one week until the deadline, the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has managed to raise enough money from a successful public appeal to be able to buy a piece of precious floodplain meadow habitat at Gallows Bridge Farm on the Bucks/Oxon border.
BBOWT has now raised £850,000 to buy the land on the Upper River Ray thanks to generous donations from the public and members, from Australia to Guernsey. The campaign got off to a good start with a legacy and a pledge of £200,000 from the Landfill Communities Fund of Waste Recycling Group Ltd (WRG), distributed by WREN. Other pledges include £344,083 from The Tubney Charitable Trust towards purchase and restoration of the land. Securing these major grants has been dependent on BBOWT finding the remaining funds for the purchase of this site. This has only been possible due to the generosity of the public helping the Trust to exceed its appeal target of £150,000.
Wading birds
The Upper River Ray is home to a variety of wildlife, but is especially important for threatened wading birds such as curlew, lapwing and snipe. One of most important inland areas for wading birds in England, the land is next to BBOWT’s existing nature reserve, doubling the size of this wetland haven.
Nigel Phillips, Head of Landscape Projects at BBOWT says: ‘We are thrilled that we have managed to raise enough money to purchase this amazing piece of habitat, and I can’t wait to get out there and get on with the restoration! We continue to welcome donations towards restoring the area including returning brooks and rivers to their natural courses and providing new ditches and scrapes for the curlew. The purchase is just the beginning – if we want this to be ‘curlew country’ then we are going to have to work hard at providing the right habitat for wildlife and to benefit people too.’
Flood defence
The purchase of Gallows Bridge Farm brings BBOWT an important step closer to fulfilling its 30-year vision of returning the area to a really wild landscape, linking nature reserves and bringing back life to the meadows. Returning the floodplain to a properly managed wetland will also help local people by acting as a natural flood defence, absorbing water which could cause problems downstream.
The Upper River Ray is home to a variety of wildlife, but is especially important for threatened wading birds such as curlew, lapwing and snipe. One of most important inland areas for wading birds in England, the land is next to BBOWT’s existing nature reserve, doubling the size of this wetland haven.
Nigel Phillips, Head of Landscape Projects at BBOWT says: ‘We are thrilled that we have managed to raise enough money to purchase this amazing piece of habitat, and I can’t wait to get out there and get on with the restoration! We continue to welcome donations towards restoring the area including returning brooks and rivers to their natural courses and providing new ditches and scrapes for the curlew. The purchase is just the beginning – if we want this to be ‘curlew country’ then we are going to have to work hard at providing the right habitat for wildlife and to benefit people too.’
Flood defence
The purchase of Gallows Bridge Farm brings BBOWT an important step closer to fulfilling its 30-year vision of returning the area to a really wild landscape, linking nature reserves and bringing back life to the meadows. Returning the floodplain to a properly managed wetland will also help local people by acting as a natural flood defence, absorbing water which could cause problems downstream.
These maps are intended as a guideline only; you must check the exact location of the reserve yourself. Wildlife Extra assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or usefulness of the information on this website.
Recent Oxfordshire news
More Oxfordshire news
