Natural England

Fenland on the Norfolk Suffolk boundary is to share in a £2m boost for England’s wetlands announced by Natural England today.

A drop of rain falling in the Little Ouse headwaters flows west towards the Wash, while one falling just a couple of miles away at Redgrave flows east towards Great Yarmouth. Historically, the ribbon of fen habitats associated with the two river valleys formed a natural line of demarcation that still exists today as the county boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk. The newts, dragonflies, snipe and orchids don't seem to mind which side of the county boundary they are.

The award-winning community Little Ouse Headwaters Project (LOHP) plans to use the money to help transform abandoned farmland into a haven for wildlife by linking historic fragments of fen at Thelnetham Fen and Blo’ Norton Fen.

It is one of 15 threatened wetlands across England – vital habitats for a wide range of insect, plant and other animal species and key to water supply and flood alleviation in many areas – to receive a boost today as Natural England announced £2m of funding for a series of wetland habitat recreation projects led by a range of organisations over the next year.

Most of East Anglia’s once wide ranging wetlands have disappeared and many plants, animals and insects including the beautiful fen orchid - now only found at two sites in Norfolk and two in Wales- are in decline as a result. The Little Ouse Headwaters Project has already helped to restore wildlife habitats for frogs and newts to the Little Ouse.

Natural England’s regional director for the East of England, Shaun Thomas, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to support the great work being done by a very dedicated group of volunteers. We can only hope to guarantee the long term survival of our wildlife by addressing the environmental health of entire landscapes, focusing on wide-scale restoration of habitats and ecosystems. Our focus has to be on the underlying causes of biodiversity loss rather than just treating the symptoms in isolation.”

Dr Helen Smith, on behalf of the Little Ouse Headwaters Project, said: “The LOHP is a small, community project run entirely by volunteers and so we are particularly delighted to have Natural England’s support for our work. This funding will contribute towards habitat restoration on an area of former fenland that we purchased last year. This site has been badly degraded by conversion to agriculture and later abandonment but its restoration is particularly important because it reunites two fragments of fen -Thelnetham and Blo’ Norton Fens- that are internationally important for their wildlife. The project also brings exciting new opportunities for local people and visitors to access and enjoy the area’s unique landscape and wildlife."

Today’s funding announcement is made at a major biodiversity conference held at the Natural History Museum in London, hosted by Natural England and attended by major stakeholders from the conservation sector.

At the conference, Natural England and Defra outlined a new framework for delivering the England Biodiversity Strategy. Moving beyond the traditional focus on protection of individual species or isolated sites, the strategy looks to tackle biodiversity recovery at a much wider geographical scale, focusing on the restoration of ecosystems - like wetlands – as the platform on which habitat and species richness can be supported.

Wetlands support a wide range of species – many of which are now rare or threatened – and they can also provide free, less visible services that are often taken for granted, such as water storage, flood prevention and clean water supplies. Most of England’s wetlands have been destroyed over the centuries and many of those that remain are now too small to survive on their own. Our wetlands are an internationally important cultural resource containing an irreplaceable record of 6,000 years archaeological remains, preserving evidence of how prehistoric people utilised these landscapes as well as evidence of sea level and climate change, which may hold many lessons for the present generation.'

Evidence of such activity dating from the Iron Age is present in the vicinity of Thelnetham Fen and the project is determined to ensure that it is protected and promoted throughout.

Helen Phillips continued, “Wetlands are a perfect example of how we should think big to reverse habitat losses, restore biodiversity and achieve other environmental gains. Today’s £2m funding will be an important step in reviving the fortunes of these crucial habitats”.

Today’s funding follows the launch in July this year of the 50 year Vision for Wetlands, by the Wetland Vision Partnership, an alliance of conservationists committed to managing and enhancing England’s wetland areas. The partners in the Wetland Vision include the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, the Environment Agency and English Heritage.

-Ends-

Notes for editors:

For further information contact
Linzee Kottman 01223 533431, mobile 07824475359, linzee.j.kottman@naturalengland.org.uk Heather McMorland 01733 455080, mobile 07919 228388, heather.mcmorland@naturalengland.org.uk ; out of hours 07970 098005.

For further information about Natural England please visit: www.naturalengland.org.uk

Wetlands Projects to benefit from Natural England funding:

Little Ouse headwaters
The Little Ouse Headwaters Project is run entirely by local volunteers, and is promoting the conservation and enjoyment of fenland habitats and landscape in the Little Ouse valley on the border of Suffolk and Norfolk. The river valley once held the most extensive area of valley fens in England. Natural England's funding will assist the Project's habitat restoration work, linking the surviving fragments of fen along the valley.

For more information and details of how to get involved with the project please visit the website www.lohp.co.uk

Other wetlands to benefit include:

Baston and Thurlby Fens – Lincolnshire Fens Project
The project objective is the re-establishment of a large area of fenland for people and wildlife in southern Lincolnshire - centred on the project area of the nationally important Baston and Thurlby Fens Nature Reserves & Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Negotiations by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust (lead partner) are underway to secure an area of land enabling this long term objective to be realised and the Natural England funding will help in the purchase and management of this land for wildlife.

The membership of the B&TFP Management Group will include the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Environment Agency , Lincolnshire County Council, English Heritage, South Kesteven District Council, South Holland District Council, Sustrans, Welland & Deepings IDB, Waterside Garden Centre, and community representatives.

• Cotswold Water Park
• Lancashire Mosslands
• Hesketh Out Marsh, Lancashire
• Lydden Valley and Ash Levels, Kent
• Mayesbrook Park, London
• River Till catchment, Northumberland.
• Severn and Avon Vales, Worcestershire
• Somerset Levels
• West Midlands Meres and Mosses Landscape Revival Project
• South Solway Mosses
• Humberhead Peatlands
• Yorkshire lower Derwent
• Lyth Valley, Cumbria

Wetlands are some of the most important landscapes on earth and they are under threat. These landscapes provide vital wildlife habitats and public services. By increasing the natural capacity of the countryside to absorb and hold excess water, the risk of flooding could be dramatically decreased. The restoration and enhancement of wetland peat bogs could prevent millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere every year. The Wetland Vision project unites five of the UK's leading environmental organisations in a bid to restore and re-create a network of wetlands for the benefit of people and wildlife alike.

Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings.