Natural England

‘Wetland Vision’ sets scene for wetland creation and restoration across the East Midlands

Large areas of wetland need to be created, protected and restored across the East Midlands in the next 50 years if the country is to meet the challenges of the future.

The call comes from the Wetland Vision Partnership, an alliance of conservationists and government agencies, including the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, Natural England, the Environment Agency and English Heritage.

The Partnership has produced a series of maps showing the loss and fragmentation of the country’s wetlands and where opportunities exist to create new ones.

Increasing pressure on land use and a changing climate mean our wetlands need to be protected and extended to safeguard our heritage and wildlife, reduce flood risk to people and property and combat climate change by storing carbon.

England has lost 90 per cent of its wetlands in the last 1,000 years, much of them since the industrial revolution. Land drainage, river engineering and abstraction of water for homes and industry mean those that remain are often small and isolated.

The maps and the information behind them will help target the restoration and creation of thousands of acres of reedbed, grazing marsh, ponds and wet grassland.

Carrie Hume, the Wetland Vision Project Manager, said: “We have created an extremely powerful tool to help restore England’s wetlands, which are among our most useful as well as our most beautiful landscapes.

“Great efforts are already being made by groups involved in wetland conservation, but our Vision signals a step change in ambition for the partners in the project.

“By showing what is possible and where, we can unlock the potential benefits for people and wildlife and inspire action to preserve and create wetlands across the landscape, from local ponds to wide expanses of fen.”

The hope is that as well as informing the partners’ work, the maps will be used by everyone from community groups to local authorities and from farmers to water companies.

Carrie Hume said: “If we invest in wetlands, we will be richly rewarded.

“In the right places, wetlands offer natural flood water storage and improved water quality, lock away huge amounts of carbon, provide havens for wildlife and fantastic places for people to visit and enjoy.

“What is more, wetlands contain some of England’s most significant heritage, including the remains of plants and animals, which help us understand past environments and unique artefacts made from materials like wood or textiles, which are preserved in these wetland sites.”

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For further information please use regional contacts listed against the case studies below:

Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marsh
Contact: Rachel Shaw, PR officer, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust 01507 526667

The On Trent Initiative
Contact: Ruth Needham, On Trent Project Manager, Staffs Wildlife Trust, 01889 880110

Baston and Thurlby Fenland Re-creation Project
Contact: Mark Tarttelin 01526 354229

Notes to editors:

Supporting quotes from partners:

Fiona Mahon, The Wildlife Trusts’ planning and water policy manager, and member of the Steering Group said: “The Wetland Vision project has provided us with a range of useful tools that will help in the delivery of inspirational and ambitious landscape-scale wetland schemes over the next few decades, for the benefit of wildlife and people”.

Alastair Burn, Natural England’s freshwater specialist, said: “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 save around 400,000 tonnes of carbon a year.

Natural England's recent State of the Natural Environment Report illustrates the dramatic decline in wetland birds such as lapwing, curlew and redshank. The Wetland Vision project unites 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.”

Mark Tarttelin, Baston and Thurlby Fenland Re-creation Project Officer said: “During 2007 the wettest early summer period for over 240 years, Baston Fen, quietly went about its business. As it has done for over three hundred years, Lincolnshire’s last functioning wet-fen washland accommodated tens of thousands of cubic metres of excess water from the surrounding catchment, it locked in hundreds of tonnes of carbon into its black peaty soils, it provided the very specialized wetland habitats for a wide number of rare and endangered plants and animals, and protected under its wet mantle, 5,000 years of human history.

After years of decline and continuing pressure, the real values of our wetlands are at last being rediscovered. The story at Baston Fen is that there may be no need for all those dramatic stories elsewhere.”