It is one of the country’s oldest nature reserves – and there have been more than 9,450 species recorded there, including 13 new to science.
Now the National Trust has announced that to mark the 125th anniversary of Wicken Fen, it is embarking on a £1.8million project to restore 215 hectares (531 acres) of precious peat.
The trust warns that without action, the majority of the remaining peat in the fens could be lost within 30 years, emitting carbon as it degrades rather than helping to store it.
Alan Kell, the National Trust’s countryside manager at Wicken Fen, said: “Healthy peatlands are massively important as we tackle climate change. They store carbon, help to control flooding, reduce the risk of wildfire and drought, act as a natural water filter and provide habitat for rare and unusual plants, birds and insects.
“Despite now being considered one of the driest areas of the UK, the East Anglian fens was once a vast wetland covering more than 3,800 square kilometres, larger than Cambridgeshire, consisting of deep peat soils, before being widely drained for agriculture in the 17th century.
“Since the first hectare of land was acquired back in 1899, we have been actively protecting the site by reversing historic drainage and re-wetting the peat soils to extend the area of fen and the biodiversity it supports.
“One of the ways we’ve been able to do this in recent years is thanks to the Wicken Fen Vision – a 100-year plan, which we’re a quarter of the way through – to create a landscape for nature, people and carbon capture, through a combination of acquisition and partnership work. Our vision is to expand this further with a bigger, better, more joined-up landscape.”
Wicken Fen was the first nature reserve acquired by the National Trust. It has grown from less than one hectare (two acres) in 1899 to 820 hectares (more than 2,000 acres) – the equivalent of 1,148 football pitches, and has helped preserve one of the last remaining fragments of undrained fen. Less than 0.1 per cent of the original East Anglian fens survives.
An incredible 9,457 species have been recorded in this rare habitat: 70 per cent of all the wildlife there is from the insect world, with the largest species-rich groups being flies (2,072 species), beetles (1,775 species) and moths (1,252 species), while more than 875 species of plants – flowers, trees, grasses, mosses and algae – have been found.
Thirteen species new to science and 30 new to Great Britain have been found at Wicken Fen, including a parasitic wasp and a flat bark beetle, both in 2019.
One of the smallest and rarest UK beetles – Microptilium palustre – was discovered at Wicken in 1967 and was a national first.
Last year, another 15 species were recorded at Wicken Fen for the first time and in March, a new spider species for the reserve – the gorse orbweb spider (Agalenatea redii) – was found lurking in its web, under a plank in the car park, where it is thought to have been hibernating.
The new project will restore peat-forming vegetation on three key areas by repairing and installing low-level clay banks to retain rainwater and managing water tables to create saturated peat.
Alan said: “By improving our ability to manage the water table we hope to re-wet areas of dried out, degrading peat to once again enable the soil to become an effective carbon store. The associated wetland conditions should help cool down the microclimate of the area in the face of ever-increasing temperatures, which is going to be a significant benefit.”
Ellis Selway, peatland restoration project manager at Wicken Fen, added: “This project will have so many positive knock-on effects for nature, including helping to safeguard and protect an array of rare fenland vegetation including the great fen-sedge, fen pondweed, milk parsley, marsh pea, marsh fern, marsh arrowgrass, and parsley water-dropwort.
“The creation of additional wetland habitats will provide future areas for these populations to grow and expand into, whilst also improving the biodiversity of the sites with invertebrates, animals and birds all benefitting.”
The trust has already cut carbon emissions on Baker’s Fen by 80 per cent thanks to restoration work completed since the 1950s.
And at Burwell Fen, raising the water table in winter months has helped attract thousands of wintering birds, including wigeon, teal, lapwing and whooper swans. This move saturates the peat so that it is better placed to survive the summer, and avoid the issues of oxidation and degradation.
Degrading lowland peat soils account for three per cent of England’s greenhouse gas emissions and 88 per cent of all emissions from peat in England.
This latest restoration is funded by a Nature for Climate Peatland Restoration grant of more than £1.3m from Natural England, along with donations from Starling Bank, Anglian Water Flourishing Environment Fund, legacies and other fundraising. The project will be delivered in collaboration with other organisations restoring peatland sites through the Fens East Peat Partnership, led by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.
Alan said: “Across the fens, it’s estimated that we lose 10-15mm of peat a year, which would take 10 to 15 years to generate. That’s why we’ve got to act now, to care for the peat we have and the fen habitat it supports which so many species are dependent on, and we couldn’t do this without the vital grants and donations we receive.”
The reserve is famously home to breeding cranes and bitterns, along with marsh harriers, garganeys and little egrets, while in winter short-eared owls can be seen along with rare hen harriers coming into roost. Water voles and otters – which had all but disappeared from the fens in the 1990s – have recolonised, alongside other mammals including water shrew, harvest mouse, soprano pipistrelle bat and brown long-eared bat.
Ben McCarthy, head of nature and restoration ecology at the National Trust, said: “What has been achieved at Wicken Fen is all the more remarkable in the light of rising temperatures, with Cambridge often making the headlines each summer with record-breaking highs.
“It demonstrates how vitally important it is to invest in our priority habitats – to work at a landscape scale and to engage with landowners and partners to achieve great things for nature.”
National Trust ranger Ajay Tegala has a new book about Wicken Fen, called Wetland Diaries, out now, while a programme of events, a late-night opening and new artist collaboration will also mark the 125th anniversary, which began with a day of celebration on Saturday, 4 May.
Visit nationaltrust.org.uk/wicken-fen for more.
