Speechly’s Farm in the Great Fen, between Woodwalton Fen and Holme Fen nature reserves, was purchased by the Wildlife Trust last year with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and a major public appeal.
This month the process of turning it into a wildlife and carbon rich wetland was kickstarted as the peat soil was seeded with a mix of five native grasses. Later in the year grazing animals will move onto the 134 hectare site and in the new year ground work will take place to transform it into a wetland habitat.
This is a key stage in the five year Peatland Progress project which will link up vital wildlife habitats as part of the long term Great Fen vision to create a huge fen habitat benefiting wildlife, the climate and people for generations to come.
Lorna Parker, Great Fen Restoration Manager, said: “This is a very special moment as the first seeds are sown on the journey towards turning this land into a thriving wetland habitat. The grass will secure the soil, locking in the carbon and laying the foundations for the exciting work happening over the next few years.
“And a key part of the project is to continue our work trialling crops which can be grown in wet soil – a process known as paludiculture. With peat soil disappearing in the Fens many farmers are looking to the future to ways they can manage land in a more sustainable way and still produce a commercial crop – this project will help provide the answers they need.”
Kate Carver, Great Fen Project Manager, said: “In time this land will become home to wetland birds like redshank and snipe as well as insects, wildflowers, otters and many other species.
“Landscape conservation on this scale requires a lot of ground work and machinery and it can be a messy business – but in the long term it will be transformed into a nature haven with huge benefits for our climate as the water and vegetation keep carbon locked into the soil instead of blowing away as it has been doing at a rate of 2cm a year.
“We want to say a huge thank you to the players of the National Lottery, everyone who donated to our appeal, all the volunteers and partners we have worked with and the community in the nearby villages who have supported this project.”
Although less than 3% of the world’s land surface is covered by peat it accounts for 21% of all the carbon stored in the ground. Farming peat is currently the largest source of carbon emissions in Cambridgeshire – higher than all transport emission in the county.
As a result of decades of drainage we have lost 99% of wet fenland habitats in East Anglia and the Great Fen vision – the largest of its kind in Europe – aims to link up two of the final remaining fragments and create a new 14 square mile peat landscape which is home to lost wildlife and sustains local communities.
Learn more about the Great Fen, Peatland Progress and Speechly’s Farm at www.greatfen.org.uk/peatland-progress.