A WORCESTERSHIRE wetland that is said to have inspired composer Sir Edward Elgar is to be featured in the next programme of the BBC series The Natural History of Britain.
The restoration of the historic Longdon and Eldesfield Marshes complex, near Tewkesbury, was considered ideal for the show, which is presented by Alan Titchmarsh.
The penultimate part is about preserving the UK's natural heritage and charts Worcestershire Wildlife Trust's efforts to ensure this particular area does just that.
It looks at how the Trust, thanks to the support of a £723,000 Lottery grant, is encouraging otters, water voles, wading birds and swallow tailed butterflies back to the wetland, just as they were before agricultural drainage in the 19th Century.
"The wide-scale loss of wildlife habitats over many years means we now have to focus our energies on creating larger areas for wildlife, not simply fragmented and isolated pockets of land," said Andy Graham, who is leading the restoration for the Trust, and who appears in the programme.
"Our restoration, for example, is part of a much wider effort in the whole Severn and Avon Vales area.
"And the benefits of this approach are not limited to wildlife.
"Restoring large areas rich in wildlife involves and inspires local communities, landowners and visitors, and can bring benefits for people and economies through eco-tourism, improvements in water quality, recreational opportunities and an overall enriched quality of life.
"This particular wetland is believed to have been a great source of inspiration to Edward Elgar."
The BBC programme also looks at the variety of ways in which people are engaging with their natural environment, from being encouraged to farm more sympathetically, replacing barren conifer plantations and building wildlife needs into road and building designs.
The seventh part of The Natural History of Britain will be shown on BBC 1 tomorrow, at 9pm.
For more information on the project, call Worcestershire Wildlife Trust on 01905 754919, or log on to www.worswildlifetrust.co.uk
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