The Fens East Peat Partnership (FEPP) with Natural England have arranged a series of monthly webinars on lowland peat restoration topics. The webinars will be combination of presentations and case studies, sharing information and experiences. These will include information gained through the FEPP NCPGS Discovery Project and the current NCPGS Restoration Project where 14 sites are undertaking peat restoration activity in the lowland Fens of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
Peatland restoration in the Broads
The Broads is one of Europe’s finest and most important wetlands, with a rich mosaic of habitats comprising of lakes, rivers, fens, drained marshland, wet woodland, estuary and coastal dunes. Protected sites cover a total of more than 7200 hectares. Agriculture is primarily a mix of livestock grazing and some arable cropping, with grassland the dominant feature in the floodplain. Reed and sedge cutting remains a traditional and important local industry.
The Broads is essentially a man-made landscape, shaped over centuries. While we seek to retain the Broads as a special and protected landscape it is likely to alter as a result of climate change and sea level rise, leading to more saline habitats and changes in land use, agricultural practices and cropping.
An estimated 13 million tonnes of carbon are stored in the Broads’ peat soils. Crucially, we can expect fewer greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands with water at or close to the soil surface and carbon rich alluvial soils than from intensively drained peatlands. It is our vision to achieve emissions reductions and nature recovery at the same time. I will share some of the steps that we have taken along this journey.
Speaker: Andrea Kelly, Environment Policy Adviser, Broads Authority
