Water voles to benefit from £25m landscapes scheme

England's fastest-declining mammal, the water vole, is among thousands of species set to benefit from a £25m scheme to restore "critical" habitats.

The government funding will be used to improve more than 3,300 hectares vital for "iconic" wildlife, also including butterflies, otters and dragonflies.

The government said the scheme would help it meet its target to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030.

But conservation groups warned the fund is "only a fraction" of what is needed.

The money, from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will go to 20 conservation projects across England, including the creation of 49 hectares of wetland around chalk river habitats in Hertfordshire and Middlesex.

The Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust says the area is home to 10% of the world's globally rare chalk rivers, and that the money will be used to support species such as water vole, otter, wild brown trout and European eel.

Chloe Edwards, the trust's director of nature recovery, said: "We know that one in six species are threatened with extinction across the UK. In Hertfordshire, that translates to 12 wetland species already extinct since 1970, and 76 notably declining."

The species survival fund will also support a partnership of schools, farmers, and landowners across the mid-Cornwall moors area to restore woodland and heathland, as well as species-rich acidic grasslands.

Meanwhile, the Groundwork Greater Manchester charity will use its award of £1.1m to create nature corridors across the Medlock Valley.

The funding will support the restoration of grassland, riverbank, wetland and woodland habitats that will support species such as willow tit, waxcaps and rare great-crested newts.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says about 8.5% of land in England has been protected so far, but that figure is disputed by some conservation groups.

The Wildlife Trusts said the government's figure does not take into account the actual condition of the habitats, arguing that "less than 37% of them are in good condition for nature".

They say that means just 3.11% of England's land has been adequately protected and effectively managed.

They are calling for the government to "take action to improve the condition of protected sites if they are to be included in the 30% total".

Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of charitable organisations, said: "The species survival fund is an important addition to public funding for nature recovery and it will support some wonderful wildlife.

"At £25m, though, it is only a fraction of the billions needed each year to stop nature's decline by 2030."

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said the funding would be "a key plank in achieving our legally binding targets to halt species loss" and would "enable local authorities, landowners, farmers, and our protected landscapes organisations to restore nature at scale".