HAMPSHIRE is at the forefront of the battle to save one of the United Kingdom’s most threatened species.

Since 1960 the numbers of Lapwings, pictured, – its bird call and flight so synonymous with the English countryside and wetlands – has dropped by a staggering 80 percent.

Nowhere has the decline been greater than in the south of England, says the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.

So serious is the concern for the Lapwing that it has now been designated as “red” on the Birds Conservation Concern list.

Between 1987 and 1998 Lapwing numbers dropped by 49 per cent in England and Wales as their habitat and breeding grounds disappeared nationwide.

Now hopes of saving these rare birds are being pinned on conservation work which is being carried out in the Winchester Water Meadows.

The meadows are the third and final stage of the Trust’s 50th anniversary appeal to raise funds to help create four large scale conservation areas or Living Landscapes across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Restoration The Trust’s chief executive Debbie Tann says: “Our current focus is the restoration of Winchester Water Meadows upstream and downstream of the Trust’s Winnall Moors Nature Reserve.

“Winchester Water Meadows will establish an ideal habitat for Lapwings as well as other important species, including snipe, water voles, orchids and others.”

She says that with members’ generous donations they have already raised more than £11,000 for the Winchester Water Meadows.

In a pre-Christmas plea, the chief executive says: “We urgently need another £11,000 for Winchester Water Meadows so that we can undertake and complete priority river bank restoration, fencing and tree work over the winter months.”

Donations can be made online at hwt.org.uk/donation.php.