Conservationists have launched an urgent rescue operation for one of the UK’s rarest plants, the starved wood-sedge, after it began growing directly on a public footpath in Somerset. The critically endangered species, once considered the nation’s rarest plant, now survives at only two native sites in the UK, one of which is near Axbridge.
The Species Recovery Trust has spent more than two decades safeguarding the plant, which had already dwindled to critically low numbers. However, in recent years the small cluster moved off the maintained bankside habitat and onto the path, putting it at risk of being trampled. Dominic Price, director of the trust, described the move as “rather catastrophic”, prompting the decision to transfer the plants to a specialist nursery.
At the nursery, the clumps will be split and propagated, allowing sections to grow into mature plants capable of recolonising the original site. The trust also hopes to establish two new populations within the Mendip Hills National Landscape, ensuring the species’ long-term survival away from footpath traffic.
The starved wood-sedge is an unassuming, grass-like plant that typically thrives in wetlands such as bogs, fens and damp woodland edges. Despite its inconspicuous flowers, it attracts a range of insect pollinators and plays a vital role in supporting insects, amphibians and birds, as well as regulating water flow and nutrient recycling. Its decline has been driven largely by habitat loss and fragmentation.
The project was funded by the Mendip Hills National Landscape team. Jim Hardcastle, the team’s manager, said: “Nature recovery is key to our work these days, so it’s great that we can help the Species Recovery Trust in their important work. At first glance, this is quite an unassuming grass that many people will have walked past for years, but it’s still an important part of the ecosystem and deserving of our attention and support.”
The Species Recovery Trust aims to remove 50 species from the brink of extinction in the UK by 2050, including the New Forest cicada, green tiger beetle, field gentians and marsh clubmoss.
