Yorkshire nature reserve wins accolade

The Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve now ranks alongside the Everglades in Florida as a habitat of international importance, and the wetlands near York were yesterday held up as a shining example of conservation.

The nature reserve, which is home to prized hay meadows, is a sanctuary for birds that turn up in 24 other countries as far afield as Russia, Iceland and African nations.

The Lord Mayor of York, Sue Galloway, was at the reserve to open an education centre to mark yesterday's World Wetlands Day. She said: "The Lower Derwent Valley is York's natural equivalent of York Minster – and an internationally important and much loved asset of which we are very proud."

The wetlands, which cover nearly 2,500 acres from the outskirts of York to Pocklington, have been protected throughout the centuries by the work of individuals such as Snowdon Slights. He was one of Yorkshire's great punt gunners, heading out on a small boat to shoot birds on the wetlands at the turn of the 19th century and helping ensure that the area was preserved from development.

The nature reserve has been afforded Ramsar status, which has also been awarded to the Everglades in Florida.

The Yorkshire reserve is a vital stop-off for food for species such as the whimbrel after one bird was tracked by radio transmitter as far as Guinea Bissau on the west coast of Africa. Shoveler ducks ringed at the reserve have been found in Russia.

World Wetlands Day yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Convention on Wetlands in 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The two other internationally important wetland sites in Yorkshire are the Humber Estuary and Malham Tarn.