WILDLIFE enthusiasts will be able to enjoy one of Cumbria’s oldest nature reserves once more thanks to a grant of £35,964.00 from SITA Trust.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Meathop Moss Nature Reserve, near Witherslack, will be made easily accessible with the installation of 1,000 metres of boardwalk, three information signs, a waymarker post and two benches.

A cycle rack has also been donated by South Lakeland District Council and will be installed by volunteers.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust has been able to secure this grant thanks to additional donations of £4,135 from members of Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

The Cumbria Wildlife Trust nature reserve underwent restoration work in 2012 to improve the peat bog habitat, including raising water levels which caused the current boardwalk to become unsafe.

Meathop Moss, which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, was the charity’s first nature reserve and was identified as a valuable wildlife habitat by Lord Rothschild in 1915 and was designated as a nature reserve in 1919.

Hazel Jones, Senior Fundraising Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust says: “Meathop Moss has been a nature reserve since 1919 and it continues to be one of the best examples of raised peat bog in the country. The peat bog has unusual plants like Sphagnum mosses, cotton grasses, bog rosemary, bog asphodel, cranberry and sundew. Entomologists come from far and wide to experience some of the 200 species of butterfly and moth that have been recorded here.”

“Thanks to this generous grant from SITA Trust, 2,000 reed and 1,000 willow plants will be planted by volunteers alongside the new boardwalk to create a natural screen that will reduce visitor disturbance to wildfowl in the fen and pools.

“Regular volunteering events will be held to assist with this project and the Reserve Warden will lead guided walks at the site to inspire people about nature and the special wildlife at Meathop Moss.”