Sutton Fen gets £50,000 improvement award

31/01/2009 23:49:29 January 2009. One of the UK's most important nature reserves is set to benefit from a grant of £49,050 from Biffaward. The grant will help to enhance the unique habitats and wildlife of the RSPB's Sutton Fen reserve in the Norfolk Broads.

The RSPB has been awarded the grant from Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund, which uses landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services to fund projects that enhance biodiversity and benefit communities. The grant will contribute to a two-year project to restore the fragile site to its former glory and benefit a range of rare birds, insects and plants.

Bitterns and cranes
A team of RSPB staff, volunteers and contractors will work to remove scrub from the fen and reedbeds to improve conditions for scarce plants and insects. They will create open ‘glades' in the fen for breeding bitterns and cranes, and clear overgrown ditches to benefit aquatic plants and animals, such as water voles, otters and the rare Desmoulin's whorl snail.

The grant will also pay for local sedge cutters to manage the habitats using traditional hand-cutting techniques - keeping this centuries-old skill alive. The installation of swing bridges will improve access by Highland cattle, whose grazing helps to control the fen vegetation.

Not threatened by rising sea levels
The project aims to enhance the reserve's stunning array of wildlife, and provide a haven for species threatened by sea level rise elsewhere. Sutton Fen is one of the few sites in Eastern England with breeding bitterns that is not threatened by sea level rise. Other rare birds that flourish on the site include marsh harriers, bearded tits and Cetti's warblers.

Swallowtail butterflies
Swallowtail butterflies and Norfolk hawker dragonflies are among the rare insects that thrive in the fen. The site is also a haven for plants once found all across the Broads but now much restricted in range, including greater water parsnip and milk parsley.

Ian Robinson, RSPB Broads Area Manager, said "Sutton Fen is one of the most precious wildlife sites in the country and is home to an incredible diversity of rare species. This funding will help us to carry out vital restoration work, and continue the traditions of sedge-cutting and grazing that have preserved these fragile habitats for hundreds of years."

Gillian French, Biffaward Programme Manager, said "Biffaward is delighted to support this worthwhile project. Biffaward recognises that Sutton Fen is one of the most extensive areas of primary fen habitat in Britain, and that it needs to be safeguarded. We look forward to working with the RSPB throughout this vital restoration work."

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