Lapwings are one of the rare species expected to be attracted Some of the country's rarest or most threatened wildlife species in Kent are to be safeguarded by a £2m environmental compensation scheme. Land at Great Bells Farm, on the Isle of Sheppey, is being transformed into a wildlife habitat to make up for land lost to future flood-management work. The Environment Agency says a rare Maid of Kent beetle and threatened lapwings and water voles should be attracted. The site will be managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Poor quality Great Bells Farm was bought by the Environment Agency as compensation for land it will need to take elsewhere within the Special Protection Area to reduce the risk of future flooding in the county. The 193-hectare site is currently described as poor-quality grazing marsh. But work carried out for the Environment Agency will improve the land, providing good-quality freshwater grazing marsh, and possibly new mudflats and saltmarshes - known as an inter-tidal habitat - to house marine life and seabirds. Environment Agency area manager Andrew Pearce said: "The new wildlife habitat at Great Bells Farm is an important part of our long-term plans to manage the risk of flooding in the Medway and Swale Estuary. "The new habitat will also boost internationally important local wildlife, including some of the nation's favourite birds, insects and animals." The agency says the transformation will take up to 10 years to ensure the new site is up to the standard of land being lost when flood defences are strengthened. Total cost, including land acquisition, is about £2m. The agency says the eventual habitat should accommodate rare and threatened species that might otherwise be lost as sea defences are enhanced. The Maid of Kent Beetle was rediscovered in the 1990s after being thought extinct for 30 years. Lapwings are "red-listed" by the RSPB because of their declining populations. Water voles have disappeared from 94% of their UK homes. Chris Corrigan, the RSPB's South East regional director, said: "The Isle of Sheppey holds some of southern England's most amazing wildlife hotspots already, so restoring the habitats at Great Bells Farm will be the icing on the cake - conservation on a landscape scale. We're thrilled to be invited to bring this place alive."



Bookmark with: Delicious

Digg

reddit

Facebook

StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version