One of UK’s rarest plants brought back from brink of extinction
One of UK’s rarest plants found growing on public footpath
- Conservationists have launched a rescue mission for the starved wood-sedge, one of the UK's rarest plants, after it began growing on a public footpath in Somerset.
- The critically endangered species, found at only two native UK sites, was at risk of being trampled, prompting intervention from the Species Recovery Trust.
- The plants have been moved to a specialist nursery for propagation, where they will be 'bulked up' before being used to recolonise the original site.
- The Species Recovery Trust also plans to establish two new populations of the starved wood-sedge within the Mendip Hills National Landscape to ensure its long-term safety.
- This rescue is part of the trust's broader commitment to remove 50 species from the brink of extinction in the UK by 2050.