Rare floodplain meadow given to wildlife trust
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- White Mills Meadow, a rare floodplain meadow on the River Nene at Earls Barton near Northampton, was donated to a conservation charity by the Thompson family.
- The six-hectare (15-acre) site will become the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire's 34th reserve in Northamptonshire.
- Conservation manager Matt Johnson said the meadows are "one of the rarest habitats in England," with only around 2,000 hectares (4,242 acres) remaining nationally.
- The trust will restore the site by reintroducing hay cuts and bringing conservation grazing livestock on site to help manage it.
- Floodplain meadows historically provided food for grazing animals, stored rainwater in winter, and produced nectar-rich native flowers supporting hundreds of insect species.
- The trust cited a 19% decline in UK wildlife since 1970 and said nearly one in six species is threatened with extinction from Great Britain.
Why it matters: The donation grows a shrinking national pool — only around 2,000 hectares of floodplain meadow remain in England — giving the regional trust its 34th Northamptonshire reserve, where hay cuts and grazing livestock will revive native wildflowers against a documented 19% UK wildlife decline since 1970.
