HUNDREDS of small donations from local people gave conservationists the cash to save part of the Gwent Levels for wildlife.

They responded to a last-minute appeal from the Gwent Wildlife Trust to secure the cash for land at Barecroft Common near its flagship Magor Marsh reserve.

Trust chief executive Tom Clarke went to the auction at Dewstow Golf Club, Caldicot with £68,000 made up of donations as small as £10.

There were other individual donations of £1,000, £2,000 and £5,000 and match funding from the Countryside Council for Wales.

A total of 49 acres on Barecroft Common was up for sale in five lots, described by the Trust as "a stunning example of species-rich pasture and marshy grassland".

The Trust secured its two main targets totalling 28.44 acres – the first covering 24.14 acres went for £86,000 and the second 4.3 acre plot cost £38,000.

Auctioneer Mr Mike Davies of Newland, Rennie Wilkins in Caldicot said the land was being sold on behalf of the estate of Mrs O L Williams.

Mr Clarke said: "We had no time to go to corporate funders or grant-making organisations so the money came from members and local people.

"We had some very generous individual donations of £5,000, £2,000 and £1,000 but most of it was made up of small sums of £10, £20 or £50.

"It just goes to show that even in these difficult times people still care about our local countryside.

"I'd like to thank our members and supporters for helping us to buy this land.

"Gwent Wildlife Trust celebrates its 50th birthday next year and this success is really the best present we could have."

The land has never been farmed which means that some rare plants have flourished.

The Trust's conservation manager Becky Price said: "We wanted to buy this land to protect the last vestiges of this important peatland for future generations.

"We said if we could secure just one section of the land adjacent to Magor Marsh we would be thrilled."

Two other lots covering 14.8 acres were sold to private buyers while the fifth failed to reach its reserve.