Nature reserve expanding thanks to £50k fundraiser

18 December 2025

Shivani Chaudhari

News image — The nature reserve is home to several birds including nightingale and turtle doves

Getty Images A brown nightingale on a branch in a tree, looking to the right-hand side of the frame. — The nature reserve is home to several birds including nightingale and turtle doves

A nature reserve that is home to rare and threatened birds will be expanded after a public appeal raised more than £50,000.

Essex Wildlife Trust had set its sights on raising £30,000 this winter to extend its Wrabness nature reserve on the banks of the River Stour in the north of the county.

The donations will be used to purchase six more acres of neighbouring land in Wrabness and to restore and protect three habitats of grazing marsh, ponds and hedgerows.

Wildlife trust chief executive Rich Yates said the project was a "rare opportunity to give nature the space it urgently needs to thrive".

The reserve is home to turtle doves, nightingales, brown hares and adders.

The online appeal ran between 2 and 11 December, and the trust said every donation would be "doubled at no extra cost".

Speaking before the appeal was launched, Mr Yates said: "By extending our protection for nature in Wrabness, we're creating a stronger, more connected landscape for wildlife and future generations to enjoy."

Mud flats and grassy banks beside the water of the River Stour. There is blue sky and white clouds above. — Wrabness sits on the banks of the River Stour, between Harwich and Manningtree

The trust manages 100 sites in the county, including nature reserves and discovery parks.

In the 1960s and 80s, the charity said the Wrabness reserve was the subject of planning applications to turn it into a prison. But since 2006, it has been managed by the charity.

The campaign earlier this month raised £50,590.

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