Sedge takes root again in Oxfordshire

After being down to plants that could be counted in their tens, the True Fox Sedge is taking root again in the flatlands and water meadows of the river Ray outside Bicester.

The plant is found in very wet areas such as the sides of ditches, wet furrows in fields and at the edges of ponds.

Its precarious status is reflected in the sedge being the subject of a national species action plan undertaken by conservationists.

Matt Dodds, biodiversity officer for Aylesbury Vale District Council, said: “The plant likes very wet areas and it was nearly wiped out in this region due largely to land drainage and ditch clearances.”

Elsewhere in Britain, it is found in reasonable numbers in Kent and Sussex and a small population has been found in Gloucestershire.

While it was thought to be lost in the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire region, wildlife experts did find just three plants along the river Ray during surveys for a local wildlife sites project in 2004.

Fired up by this discovery, more investigations were carried out through the Upper Ray project run by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT).

The welcome upshot was that a few more plants were located on the borders of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

In 2007, a change was proposed to the overall ecological value of the fields where the sedge plants were found.

BBOWT had already bought the 140-acre Gallows Bridge Farm in the vicinity of Grendon Underwood, near Bicester, to create a nature reserve as part of their work to help wading birds to return to the upper reaches on the Ray.

Arnaud Duranel, a conservation officer with BBOWT, explained that the organisation was also able to purchase the neighbouring field or water meadow where the sedge plants were found.

“The land there is not very good for agriculture as it so wet with around 60 per cent of Gallows Bridge Farm being water meadows that flooded regularly,” said M Duranel.

He attributed the severe decline in the sedge to land drainage undertaken to attempt to improve crop production on the mainly clay, water-retaining, soil.

M Duranel has been excited by the re-introduction of the plant because in his native France and other countries on mainland Europe the sedge is much more common.

“In France it is often found on the steep sides of river valleys,” he said.

So, to foster the revival of the sedge, the conservationists decided it would be prudent to collect seeds from the plants in a three-way partnership between BBOWT, the biodiversity and green spaces team of the Aylesbury Vale district council and a specialist nursery, British Flora.

Mr Dodds said: “It was also realised that here was the perfect opportunity not just to conserve these plants, but to harvest the seed from the other known locations.”

The nursery British Flora agreed to grow the seeds into hundreds of plants in order to secure the future of the sedge in the area.

Seeds were gathered from nine parent plants in the vicinity to maximise the genetic diversity of the seedlings.

“Despite not knowing what to expect from the seeds, British Flora succeeded in propagating 600 large, robust plants by 2008,” said Mr Dodds.

It was fortunate too that the growth of the plants coincided with some ditching work being done by BBOWT at the fairly recently purchased Gallows Bridge Farm.

Their intention was to improve conditions for wading birds.

In October, planting of the newly grown plants was carried out by BBOWT, the Vale countryside volunteers and members of the Aylesbury council’s green-spaces team.

The plants will be carefully monitored in coming months and, if they thrive, more will be planted in future years.

Mr Dodds added: “This is a nationally important project which is being implemented in the region.

“It demonstrates how, through co-ordinated effort and determined, organised action, a species can be brought back from the brink of extinction.”