The creation of a “super nature reserve” in Somerset is a gamechanger for wildlife conservation. But the real question is: what happens next?
“Build it, and they will come”, to paraphrase the 1980s feelgood movie Field of Dreams. And they have. Since former peat diggings were transformed into the Avalon Marshes 30 years ago, a host of new species have colonised these watery flatlands. Cranes, bitterns, spoonbills, glossy ibises and three kinds of elegant, snow-white egrets – little, cattle and great white – are now a regular sight here.
