A wildlife charity has bought an East Yorkshire farm as it presented a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' for nature restoration.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) has bought Dryham Farm, within North Cave Wetlands near Hull, with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The charity said it would help to 'secure' the 'incredible space' to restore habitats and improve the visitor experience.
Once part of a huge 5000-acre marsh called Wallingfen, North Cave Wetlands was turned over to agriculture, and then became a gravel quarry in the 1990s.
The farm includes the original North Cave farm buildings, the last remnant of the farm.
North Cave Wetlands reserve manager Tony Martin said North Cave Wetlands was a 'very important and locally-beloved' site.
He said: "The newly-purchased land and farmstead forms the historic heart of the site, and will help us to secure the Trust’s long-term investment in the reserve.
"This purchase of the land will help us to plan for the next phases of North Cave Wetlands’ future."
Helen Featherstone, director at the National Lottery Heritage Fund said protecting the environment was a priority for the fund.
"This purchase will protect the natural heritage, wildlife, and habitats of the land and prevent other threats to the wetlands.”
It comes after a North Yorkshire estate recently agreed to rewild large swathes of its arable land as part of a new 30-year restoration project.
Castle Howard Estate has signed up to a project with the Environment Bank which will see 440-acres of low-yielding arable land rewilded.
