<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/04/a-game-changer-the-9000-acre-project-reclaiming-the-fens-for-nature>
"Looking north from Woodwalton Fen nature reserve, in Cambridgeshire, visitors
get an uninterrupted view of Britain’s flattest landscape. An entire hemisphere
of sky hangs over a network of carefully drained fields that stretch to the
horizon without a hill or mound in sight. Potatoes and other root crops grow in
profusion in the rich, peaty soil.
But change is coming to this quiet corner of fenland – thanks to one of the
largest and most ambitious restoration schemes ever launched in Europe: the
Great Fen project. Organised by Wildlife Trust conservationists, the project
has already cost £10m and its price tag could reach £30m by the time it is
completed, they say.
The money – which has included an £8m donation from the National Lottery
Heritage Fund – is being used to buy large sections of farmland to create a
9,000-acre site around two nature reserves – one at Holme Fen and the other at
Woodwalton Fen, the latter being one of the very first wildlife refuges created
in the UK . The land will then be transformed by allowing water to return to
previously drained fields, restoring it to its former damp glory.
Mosaics of pools, streams and water meadows will take over fields that recently
brimmed with onions and carrots. Recreating these old habitats should then
entice a host of animals and birds – from voles to kingfishers – into the Great
Fen. Rare species that have already been recorded in the area include marsh
harriers and scarce chaser dragonflies as well as plants such as cuckooflower,
purple loosestrife and greater water parsnip.
“We have very high hopes for restoring biodiversity here,” said Henry Stanier,
the project’s monitoring and research officer. “We should have all sorts of
species - hobbies, bitterns, snipe and sticklebacks – coming in soon.”
New methods of farming will be tested at Great Fen to create types of
agriculture that are sustainable and resistant to climate change, while the
land will also be used to provide open access for visitors and ecotourists.
And central to these aspirations has been the purchase of Speechly’s Farm. This
was completed a few months ago and is important because its land connects two
separate chunks of rewilded countryside that have been developed around the
Holme and the Woodwalton reserves. Thanks to the purchase of the farm, these
two restored landscapes can be united.
“For the first time this century, we will have a continuous corridor of natural
wet fenland that will stretch over thousands of acres of the Great Fen,” said
Kate Carver, manager of the rewilding project. This point was backed by Lorna
Parker, restoration manager for the Great Fen. “It’s quite simple. This piece
of land is a game-changer for the project,” she said."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-tb-emissions-china-deforestation-colombia/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
