WORK on improving the habitat of the water vole Wiltshire's most endangered mammal is being helped by a £500 donation from Wessex Water.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust received the Watermark Award for its work in managing land adjacent to By Brook between Ford, Slaughterford and Box.
The award is part of a Wessex Water scheme for environmental projects and was judged by a panel chaired by the president of The Conservation Foundation, David Bellamy.
By Brook is one of the least modified rivers of Wiltshire and is a County Wildlife Site in its own right.
However a combination of the American mink, a predator of water voles, and the impact of cattle grazing on tall herbaceous vegetation means the water vole has become rare.
One of the primary aims of the trust's management of the By Brook is to restore the river's vegetation to provide a safe habitat for water voles.
The trust is putting up temporary fencing to stop cattle poaching the riverbanks, thus creating a buffer strip to help prevent enriching run off as well as helping water voles.
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