Saturday 25th March 2023

Following the AGM a talk was given by Henry Stanier entitled ”The Great Fen – a future wetland and more”. Henry gave a quick history of the draining of the fens emphasising the loss of 4 meters of peat that could never be recovered and the continuing loss even when the peat is covered with grass due the drying of the peat.

Nathaniel Charles Rothschild bought Woodwalton Fen in 1910, a pioneer in nature conservation it was transferred to the local Naturalist Trust after being a National Nature Reserve. Holme Fen also being a National Nature Reserve, the idea of the Great Fen was to link these together and form an area of 5km by 11km to make something sustainable.

Grassing over the farms partially protects the peat. The fields are then grazed by cattle and sheep before the water level is brought up so it is within 100mm of the surface, to more fully protect the peat layer. Peat is the priority but the grazing and hay cutting brigs in an income to both the Trust and the local farmers.

The changes have had a significant effect on the wildlife with a lot of species returning, from Willow Emerald Damselflies to Greater Bush Crickets, Drinker moths to Garden Tiger Moths and Purple Hairstreak Butterflies. In the flora Water Violet, Frogbit and Bladderwort.

Henry has organised all the monitoring using large numbers of volunteers who have been trained to give consistent data. With mammals there are now some Polecats returning and the Chinese Water Deer are becoming numerous. Many bird species are also retuning such as Short-eared Owl, Grasshopper Warbler, Merlin and Stonechat which are starting to breed on the Fen.

Henry gave a very upbeat finish with The Trust are about to buy Speechey’s Farm and Middle Farm, which will join the two National Nature Reserves and greatly increase the area where the peat is being preserved.

This talk followed the 2023 Annual General Meeting - The minutes of the 2022 AGM can be downloaded as a PDF HERE