The Broads Authority is buying an area of fenland on the waterways in order to preserve the rare species found there.

The organisation is taking on the habitat next to a nature reserve which it already manages at How Hill, on the river Ant.

It believes the purchase is important to help preserve species living there, such as the critically-endangered Crested Buckler-fern.

It is buying the land with part of a new £1.115m grant it has received from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The money is also going towards a Truxor T50 - an amphibious machine used to cut weeds in shallow waters - as well as diggers and workboats which can be used to manage areas of wetland.

Spending by the Broads Authority has been the subject of controversy recently, amid rising tensions between two factions at the organisation, dubbed the navvies and the parkies.

The navvies are concerned primarily with maintaining navigation on the waterways and supporting boating activities, while the parkies are more focused on fulfilling the authority's national park obligations, such as conservation.

The organisation has faced accusations - strongly denied - that it has been using money which should be ring-fenced for navigational purposes for other projects.

Dan Hoare, its head of construction, maintenance and ecology, said that the new capital funding could not be used for ongoing revenue costs - an issue which has prompted the recent controversy.

However, he stressed that the grant would help with navigation as well as biodiversity schemes.

"While the capital grant is a one-off investment from Defra into Broads’ biodiversity and habitat improvements, the purchased equipment is also a huge boost for navigation works, such as dredging and water-plant management, our heritage restoration, and work to improve footpaths and Broads’ access," he said.

"It will allow us to improve the efficiency of work programmes across the entire Broads system."

As well as the amphibious machine, other items of equipment being purchased include a small, motorised workboat, three Whaly workboats, a 14-tonne excavator, an 18-tonne long reach excavator, a water-plant harvester, reciprocating mowers, chainsaws and brush cutters.

The equipment will be used primarily to support projects on land and water, enable staff to reach and work in remote locations as well as assist with dredging and habitat creation.