Natural England announces £2m boost for England’s wetlands

England’s threatened wetlands – vital habitats for a wide range of insect, plant and other animal species and key to water supply and flood alleviation in many areas – received a boost today (Wednesday 19 November) 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 England’s once wide ranging wetlands have disappeared and many plants, animals and insects – including the fen orchid, snipe and the great silver water beetle - which rely on watery habitats, are in decline as a result.

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.

Speaking at today’s conference, Dr Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, said: “To guarantee the long term survival of our wildlife, we need to address 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.”

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.

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.

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Notes to Editors

For further information contact Natural England’s national press office on 0845 603 9953, press@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:

Cotswold water park
The Cotswold Water Park is the home of the Upper Thames Vision which seeks to link up several nationally and internationally important wetland sites including North Meadow NNR by creating a 14 mile wetland corridor following the River Thames. The UK Wetland Vision is helping to fund the development of a disused mineral site, restoring it to provide a brand new wetland reserve at Cleveland Lakes. The project is being managed by the Cotswold Water Park Society and will eventually consist of 72.5 hectares (ha) of reedbeds, shallow wetlands, scrapes and open water.

Lancashire Mosslands
The Living Landscapes Mossland Project forms the first phase of an overall vision for Mosslands across Lancashire, developed by a range of partners including North West Development Agency, Natural England and the Wildlife Trust. This long-term vision aims to establish a land use plan which will encourage the long term sustainability of wildlife, farming and leisure across the mossland landscapes. A core mossland area, including linking corridors and hydrological buffer zones has been identified within the vision, and the Living Landscapes Project aims to restore and enhance a major part of that core area. Natural England’s funding will help the Lancashire Wildlife Trust to acquire, protect and restore 70 ha of the remnant lowland raised bogs in this area which was once an extensive mossland habitat.

Hesketh Out Marsh, Lancashire
The project, led by RSPB, aims to restore lost saltmarsh and other intertidal habitat by sharing investment in creating new environmental assets of intertidal habitat and associated access infrastructure. Natural England will provide co-funding alongside the RSPB and the Environment Agency for further development of land at Hesketh Out Marsh, and conversion into semi-natural habitat. The newly-restored saltmarsh and intertidal habitat is contiguous with the Ribble Estuary NNR.

Lydden valley and Ash Levels, Kent
In the South East of England, the Regional Biodiversity Forum is already working to deliver the England and Regional Biodiversity Strategies. Guided by the Joint Wetland Vision, the RSPB, the Kent Wildlife Trust, The Environment Agency Kent County Council are working in partnership with Natural England and other members of the Kent Biodiversity Partnership to revert over 200ha of arable land in the Lydden valley to wet grassland to support species such as lapwing and redshank. Additional Natural England funding to the Kentish Stour Countryside Project and the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group  will contribute to the restoration and creation of wetland habitats in this area and management of ditches in the wider landscape to support the water vole populations. This landscape scale project will deliver above and beyond the reach of the agri-environment schemes, creating space for wildlife to move and adapt to the changing climate.

Mayesbrook park, London
The Mayes Brook in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham runs along the boundary of Mayesbrook Park in a uniform, straightened channel of limited wildlife value and cut off from the park behind a steel palisade fence. The Mayesbrook restoration project aims to create over 1km of naturalised river channel bringing the river into the park as part of an ambitious project to transform Mayesbrok Park from an 'open space' to a 'living space' - an integral part of the borough's green infrastructure. The river restoration project will address issues of climate change adaptation, flood management, access to nature and habitat creation and aims to be an exemplar of the benefits of river restoration in London and other urban areas. Through the wetland vision project, Natural England will be supporting the detailed design study for this river restoration work, which is a collaboration between Natural England, Environment Agency, Thames Rivers Restoration Trust, London Borough of Barking & Dagenham and London Wildlife Trust.

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.

River Till Catchment, Northumberland
The R. Till is important in both a national and European context with the river being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation for its healthy populations of otter, salmon, lamprey and aquatic plants e.g. water crowfoot. Natural England is working in partnership with a number of organizations including the Tweed Forum, the Environment Agency and the Tweed Foundation to improve existing wetland habitats and create new ones within the catchment of the River Till. Working with local landowners the funds from Natural England’s Wetland Vision Project will help to expand existing projects to reconnect the river with its floodplain and control invasive species (Himalayan balsam and American signal crayfish) that have invaded the lower parts of the catchment. New biodiversity rich wetland habitats such as ponds and wet grassland will be created and some degraded mires and ox-bow lakes will be restored.

Severn and Avon Vales, Worcestershire
The Severn and Avon Vales Wetlands Partnership is working to restore large-scale floodplain wetlands along the two rivers, from Worcester on the Severn and Stratford upon Avon down to Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. Pershore Meadows which lies within this area, consists of 24 ha of floodplain grassland, located on the edge of Pershore, Worcestershire. Natural England’s funding will help Wychavon District Council to create a community wetland on the site, providing wetland habitats for wildlife and improving access and interpretation on the site. The project aims are to:

• Enhance the biodiversity of the site by creating/restoring wetland habitats
• Promote wetland restoration to a wider audience
• Reduce Pershore’s contribution to flooding
• Improve water quality in the River Avon
• Create a public space for local communities to learn about wetlands and get involved in wetland management

The Partners in this project include: Wychavon District Council, Pershore Town Council, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Severn and Avon Vales Wetlands Partnership, Environment Agency, Pershore Town Market Partnership and Severn Trent Water.

Somerset Levels
Natural England will be funding further wetland restoration projects in the Brue valley within the Somerset Levels. Through land purchase and habitat management we will be restoring disused peat working sites to reedbed and other wetland habitats for the benefit of a range of wetland species such as otter, bittern and other breeding and wintering birds. This work will complement other habitat management across the Somerset levels in partnership with the Somerset Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Environment Agency which aims to bring back some of the lost wetland glory to this pre-eminent wetland landscape.

West Midlands Meres and Mosses Landscape Revival Project
The West Midlands Meres and Mosses comprise one of the most significant wetland landscapes in lowland Britain, extending over a large part of southern Cheshire and northern parts of Shropshire and Staffordshire. The condition of the constituent sites (of which there are hundreds) is generally poor with many once-linked wetlands now isolated from one another other by intensive farmland and drained peat.

This project aims to restore and reconnect the Meres and Mosses landscape and includes the appointment of a specific ‘project officer’ who will work with statutory and voluntary organisations and private land managers in both the West Midlands and North West regions, to coordinate existing activity and to secure commitment from partners to a specific Meres and Mosses restoration plan.

Natural England is funding restoration work on a number of the mosses and meres this year so as to achieve immediate biodiversity gain for lowland raised bog and fen habitats. The active partnerships with English Heritage, the Wildlife Trusts and Local Authorities will be crucial to achieving these goals.

South Solway Mosses
The South Solway Mosses is one of the last remaining areas of lowland raised bog in England. The bogs are important for their peat forming sphagnum mosses, the birds and insects associated with them and as a carbon store. Before agricultural drainage, cutting for domestic peat and extraction of peat for the horticultural trade, the bogs were connected and formed a wetland area of around 4-5000ha.

Natural England in partnership with the Solway Coast AONB, RSPB and Cumbria Wildlife Trust are restoring the correct hydrological conditions for peat to start growing again, over all the degraded parts of the bog, as well as encouraging changes in the land management practices outside the boundary to protect the hydrology of the system as a whole. In addition work and fund raising is also taking place to improve the access, education and interpretation of the bogs.

The funding announced by Natural England will help to restore the hydrology over 40ha of degraded bog in this area, which in turn will help to further protect some 100ha of surrounding bog by re-establishing water levels.

Humberhead peatlands
The Humberhead Levels project will develop around 30ha of new wetland on the edge of the Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve. The new wetland will enhance the existing reserve, and help buffer surrounding farmland from the effects of raised water levels. Natural England are working in partnership with E.On Climate and Renwables and local landowners to deliver the project. This project is part of the Humberhead Levels Partnership, who's vision is to create a unique wetland landscape, supporting thriving communities and wildlife in the heart of the Yorkshire and Humber Region.

Yorkshire lower Derwent
Natural England funding has helped a partnership led by the Carstairs Countryside Trust to begin a 16 acre floodplain grassland re-creation project in the Lower Derwent Valley near York which will help the re-creation from arable land of rare meadow grassland and its associated breeding birds such as Snipe and Curlew.

Lyth valley, Cumbria
Natural England is working closely with the Environment Agency, RSPB and Cumbria Wildlife Trust to enhance the network of wetland sites around Morecambe Bay by securing and restoring existing wetland sites in the Lyth Valley and developing their role as a key part of the local economy. In the face of a potential change in drainage management in the valley we are also initiating work to explore a sustainable future for the valley which would deliver direct long term benefits for both wildlife and the local economy.

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.

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. Many of the projects will also benefit the historic environment, as protecting wetlands conserve buried archaeology and fragile and irreplaceable historical archives.

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.