Cross-leaved heath being returned to Munsley Bog.
RARE plants rescued from their declining bog habitat were returned to the site this week.
Return of the bog myrtle and cross-leaved heath to Munsley Bog, near Godshill, comes at the end of a three-year project.
Island 2000 worked with the Environment Agency to find the last patches of declining bog myrtle and cross-leaved heath growing there.
Samples were then taken and propagated by horticulture experts at the IW College.
At the same time, Island 2000 was busy restoring some of the original bog habitat to create a space in which to put the new plants grown on from the original cuttings.
This week the first of the healthy new plants, clones of the remnants still left at Munsley, were returned to their home and planted out into the glades created for them.
Director of Island 2000 Ian Boyd, said: "It’s just brilliant to be able to return these little plants to Munsley. It was once a famously wonderful wetland and will be again.
"We are working with the Environment Agency, the college and with the landowners together to gradually restore the whole site through the Gift to Nature scheme."
Reporter: richardw@iwcpmail.co.uk