THOUSANDS of Oxfordshire’s iconic flowers will benefit after a nature reserve received a cash boost.

The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust has been given £18,874 to manage its Iffley Meadows Biodiversity Improvement Project at Iffley Meadows Funding from environment charity SITA Trust will enable the nature reserve, off Donnington Bridge Road, to guard its snakeshead fritillaries.

Neil Clennell, BBOWT’s head of conservation for Oxfordshire welcomed the grant.

He said: “This will enable us to do so much more for all the wildlife on these important floodplain meadows.”

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The project aims to restore 27 hectares of lowland meadow habitat and create the right conditions for the iconic flowers.

The grant will enable BBOWT to install drainage channels to help combat excessive flooding.

It will also pay for a track so hay can be cut and a project working with county graziers to encourage more focused grazing on different parts of the reserve.

New signs will also explain what BBOWT’s plans are and the wildlife that will benefit from this work. The trust manages Iffley Meadows in partnership with site-owner Oxford City Council.

Despite a significant dip in numbers after the summer floods of 2007, thanks to the trust’s management the number is now about 60,000.

Mr Clennell said: “The summer flooding of Iffley Meadows in 2007 caused the land to become waterlogged and prevented BBOWT from looking after this fragile habitat.

“Since then, thanks to funding from the Trust of Oxfordshire’s Environment, we re-established the annual summer hay cut and grazing, which resulted in the record count of 84,190 snakeshead fritillaries this spring on one area of the reserve.”

Marek Gordon, CEO and chairman of SITA Trust, said the trust was able to support the project through tax credit scheme the Landfill Communities Fund.

Snakeshead fritillaries

Snakeshead fritillaries can be found across Europe.

The hanging bell-shaped flower – Oxfordshire’s official county flower – begin to blossom in spring, usually across damp, lowland meadows.

The flowers appear in various shades of purple, with intricately chequered patterns of pale silver.

They can reach heights of up to 40 centimetres and are listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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