New wetland at Besthorpe Nature Reserve nears completion
Millions of litres of water are to be transferred to a former Nottinghamshire quarry in the final phase of a project to create a new wetland area.
The wetland is part of a Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust scheme to attract rare birds to its reserve at Besthorpe, near Newark.
About eight hectares (19 acres) of reed bed and three hectares (seven acres) of wet grassland has been created on site.
The water will be pumped from a lagoon filled with water from the River Trent.
The three-year project aims to attract bittern, warblers and otters to the newly created area of the 70-hectare site, which was planted by volunteers.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust said the water was being transferred to a new network of ponds and reed beds, which have been created at the site which was once the largest reed bed in the county.
The trust said a key part of the habitat work had been the installation of a pipe from the River Trent to allow water to flow into the reserve's lagoon when the river was high.
The project is part of the Trent Vale Landscape Partnership, a £2.6m project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.