A GROUND-BREAKING £200,000 local nature reserve management project has been given the go-ahead.English Nature have announced they will put £78,000 towards the project which is being organised by Suffolk County Council in partnership with Mid Suffolk District Council and Ipswich Borough Council.

A GROUND-BREAKING £200,000 local nature reserve management project has been given the go-ahead.

English Nature have announced they will put £78,000 towards the project which is being organised by Suffolk County Council in partnership with Mid Suffolk District Council and Ipswich Borough Council. Funding for the project has also been made available by Anglian Water Environmental Partnership and the Environment Agency.

For the last two years local countryside officers have been working to attract enough funding to manage and promote local nature reserves in and around Ipswich and the Gipping Valley area. The final piece of the jigsaw has now fallen into place through English Nature's 'Wildspace!' grant scheme.

There are currently seven local nature reserves in the project area and all of these will benefit in some way from the project over the three years. Work has already started on recruiting a new project officer who is expected to start by April 2003.

Joan Girling, member of the county council's executive committee, said: "Local Nature Reserves are vital areas for both people and wildlife and this project will result in significant benefits for both. It is also shows what can be achieved when a number of organisations come together to realise shared objectives. As well as enabling us to carry out vital management work on existing sites we will also be to appoint a full time Community Liaison Officer to work with the local community to designate new local nature reserves in the area."

Emma Coombs of English Nature's Suffolk Team, said: "English Nature is pleased to be helping this exciting partnership project. It will involve local communities in the improvement, care and enjoyment of Local Nature Reserves, and enhance the wildlife value of these locally important sites. The project provides a valuable opportunity to increase the number of Local Nature Reserves in Ipswich and the Gipping Valley."

English Nature is working in partnership with the New Opportunities Fund to distribute £6.15 million of National Lottery money nationally as part of the Fund's Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities programme.