Internationally important wetland landscape: Where do the Somerset Levels stand?
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00 The Avalon Marshes is a magical wetland landscape that lies at the heart of the Somerset Levels
00:15 and Moors. It's nationally important for its rich cultural heritage including Glastonbury
00:21 Tor and the Isle of Avalon and its diversity of wildlife which includes some of Britain's
00:27 best wetland nature reserves.
00:36 The landscape is perhaps best known for peat and water. For thousands of years people have
00:41 been drawn to the area, once for food, fuel and safety, now for relaxation, wildlife and
00:50 heritage.
00:53 It has become this tremendous mosaic of habitats, home to a wealth of wildlife. We have new
01:00 species moving in all the time. We now have populations which are really strong, bitterns
01:05 for example. Last year we had around 56 males recorded, largest population in the country
01:12 and that's fantastic for Somerset.
01:14 We've been recently designated as a super national nature reserve, second in the country.
01:19 So we are creating this wonderful connection across the county as a corridor for wildlife
01:25 and nature to thrive.
01:30 The landscape also provides significant income to the local and county economies through
01:36 agriculture and eco-tourism.
01:39 So this is one of our new structures at West Amore. It's designed similar to a lake house
01:45 village that would have once been found out here. All the structures that we design and
01:50 put into our reserves we try to create as a structure for people but also suitable for
01:56 wildlife. We have a tourney owl that's using the structure just over there and within the
02:01 roost space behind me is a designed bat roost.
02:06 People that may not have been out into the countryside before can help plan their journey,
02:13 their visit by looking at our website. We've done work with Google Maps so people can have
02:18 a virtual tour of some of our structures before they even visit. Once they get here using
02:23 their phone they can look at spotter guides, trails. So we are trying to create an experience
02:31 for a whole wide user group of visitors.
02:36 For more information about our conservation work and how you can get involved, please
02:40 visit avalonmarshes.org
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