THE county has come up trumps with three prizes at an environmental awards ceremony.

Dr Keith Kirby, a professor at Oxford University, Jonathan Pearce, a postgraduate student at Oxford Brookes University, and the River of Life Project, run by the Earth Trust and Environment Agency at Shillingford near Wallingford, each scooped a prize at the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) Awards.

Scientist, woodland ecologist and researcher Dr Kirby was honoured for his Outstanding, Lifelong Contribution to the Advancement of Ecology, Forestry and Woodland Management at the ceremony on Thursday.

Mr Pearce was given an award in the student category for his project “Biodiversity offsetting in Oxfordshire: an assessment of challenges and opportunities”.

River of Life was the joint winner of the Best Practice Award for Practical Nature Conservation. It was also highly commended for innovation, knowledge sharing and stakeholder engagement.

The project, launched in October last year, has created wetland features such as ponds and backwaters and will next plant reedbeds and create wildflower meadows along the Thames near Wallingford.

It hopes to attract more species, such as water vole and otters.

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