Rare floodplain meadow donated to wildlife trust for restoration

A six-hectare floodplain meadow on the banks of the River Nene in Northamptonshire has been donated to the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire by the Thompson family.

White Mills Meadow at Earls Barton will become the trust's 34th nature reserve in the county and will be restored into a wildflower-rich habitat.

The donation is significant because floodplain meadows are one of the rarest habitats in England, with only around 2,000 hectares remaining. These meadows were once a traditional part of the countryside, providing food for grazing animals and storing rainwater in winter whilst producing nectar-rich native flowers that support hundreds of insect species.

Conservation manager Matt Johnson said the trust will restore the meadow by reintroducing hay cuts and bringing conservation grazing livestock on site to manage it.

The project forms part of the charity's plan to reverse biodiversity loss, addressing the 19% decline in UK wildlife since 1970 and the near one-in-six species now threatened with extinction from Great Britain.

Gilbert