Wildlife Trust appeals for funds to buy key flood meadows

28/11/2007 00:00:00 October 2007. A rare opportunity to buy a piece of precious floodplain meadow habitat has come up at the 143 acre Gallows Bridge Farm on the Upper River Ray on the Bucks/Oxon border. The land is right next to the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust’s (BBOWT) existing nature reserve and its purchase would double the size of this wetland haven. BBOWT have been given first refusal on this site, but need to come up with £850,000 by 1 December to buy it, or it could be gone for good. The campaign has got off to a good start with a generous legacy and a grant of £200,000 from WRG/WREN. BBOWT is launching a public appeal today to help save Gallows Bridge Farm.

The Upper River Ray is a land of big skies and atmospheric mists, with a variety of wildlife which has already set up home. Curlew, lapwing and snipe – all species hanging on by a thread in Berks, Bucks & Oxon – have found a haven in the wet meadows. This part of the country is recognised as one of most important inland areas for wading birds in England.

The site is extremely important to BBOWT as it has the chance to link nature reserves and to form a wildlife friendly corridor, stretching for kilometres along the river Ray. This will allow wildlife to move about freely, making species less vulnerable and improving their chances to thrive.

Nigel Phillips, Head of Landscape Projects at BBOWT says: ‘Wading birds have suffered terribly in this area, with the loss being really quite dramatic. Over the past 20 years, there has been a 40% loss of curlew and lapwing as a direct result of loss of habitat. Gallows Bridge Farm is one of the few places where curlew still breed and this why it is such a wonderful opportunity. After all, you know you are in a wild place when you hear the haunting cry of the curlew. It’s something you never forget.’ Gallows Bridge Farm
Gallows Bridge Farm is an area of low-lying meadows, laced with streams and ditches, and lies at the heart of one of the most important wetland regions in all of the three counties. If BBOWT manages to raise the money to purchase the land, it could restore it to its former glory by returning the brook to its traditional course, creating shallows for wading birds and allowing the floodplain to flood naturally, establishing the area as a real wetland haven once again. Curlews and lapwings will thrive in the re-wetted meadows, and throughout the year wildflowers such as cowslips and great burnet will carpet the ground.

Nigel comments: ‘Wetlands are an important means of natural flood defence, and with the terrible scenes of devastation over the summer, it is important that these natural areas are protected and restored. When wet meadows are managed properly they act as nature’s blotting paper, absorbing water rather than having it rush off the land and causing potential problems downstream. ‘

£200,000 donation
BBOWT is already a major step closer to acquiring Gallows Bridge Farm thanks to a tremendous £200,000 grant from the Landfill Communities Fund of Waste Recycling Group Ltd (WRG), distributed by WREN. This fund distributes a proportion of the tax paid on waste sent to landfill sites to local environmental and community projects.

BBOWT is waiting to hear the results of other applications to charitable trusts. BBOWT’s appeal launched today is seeking to raise £150,000 by 1 December