A FORMER bombing range near Doncaster which has been turned into a nature reserve is to receive a £64,000 funding boost to make it more welcoming to wildlife.
The funding allocated to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust by SITA Trust will enable Misson Carr's valuable wet woodland, fen and wet grasslands to be restored by increasing the water level. The work will make it more attractive to owls and rarer specie
s such as newts and snakes.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust will use the funding, from the Landfill Communities Fund, to pay for a series of improvements to try to bolster biodiversity on the 85-hectare site.
The site of special scientific interest, bought from the Ministry of Defence in 2001, has a long history of drainage and conversion to agricultural land, leaving the Misson Carr Nature Reserve much drier than it should be.
Many of the scarce and nationally rare species, particularly invertebrates, once recorded at Mission Carr are under threat due to habitat loss.
A new wind-powered water pump will be installed to provide more water on the reserve, and new water control features will be put in place to help retain optimum water levels.
All five native species of owl have been recorded at Misson Carr and several "priority species" listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan also live there, including the great crested newt, grass snake, harvest mouse and water vole.
"It is also one of the best sites in the East Midlands for moths, with 340 species recorded on the reserve.
Charles Langtree, head of estate management for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, said: "The Department for Food and Rural Affairs supported our plans to re-hydrate Misson Carr and provided £2,000 for an initial study into the project in 2006.
"Now, thanks to funding from SITA Trust, work has started on the site. This is vital conservation of one of the county's last remaining areas of fenland, which used to cover much of the local landscape.
"We have installed a number of owl boxes as the additional nesting space will help expand the population, and we hope to prevent the tremendous biodiversity of the site from diminishing further."
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