After decades of wetland habitat and species decline, the 21st century is seeing the start of a wetland revival. Many poems, pictures and legends have celebrated England's wetlands, from the Somerset Levels and Moors to the Norfolk Broads.
They are places where people have worked and lived for centuries, learning to respect the movement of water and the abundance of food, fuel and protection which watery places can bring.
Nature conservation organisations, water companies, landowners, farmers and local communities are recognising the value that such landscapes can bring, and we are seeing the start of a wetland revival.
Lakenheath Fen nature reserve in East Anglia - previously a carrot field - is a fantastic example of the kind of new waterscapes we would like to see across the country. Our new project to restore nine square kilometres of saltmarsh and mudflat at Wallasea Island in Essex is one of the most ambitious habitat re-creation schemes in Europe.
Meanwhile the Ouse Fen previously known as Needingworth reserve in Cambridgeshire is replacing seven square kilometres of gravel extraction with a beautiful wetland complex. As well as safeguarding reserves, we also want to improve what happens in the wider countryside and make sure funding is available to achieve this. In England, this means influencing the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Defra , which decides water management policy.
We work closely with the Environment Agency on flood management, abstraction and pollution control, and with Natural England on improving the condition of protected wetlands. We also advocate to these and other government authorities to improve the UK's performance in water management. Together with Natural England, the Environment Agency, The Wildlife Trusts and English Heritage, we are promoting a vision for the future of England's wetlands, which will help to translate our ambitions into reality.
We have joined forces with a wide range of conservation and angling bodies to produce a Blueprint for Water which sets out the 10 steps to sustainable water management. These include restoring rivers and floodplains, making polluters pay and supporting water-friendly farming.
Martin Harper Blog. As with similar areas in the Netherlands, much of the Fenland originally consisted of fresh- or salt-water wetlands. These have been artificially drained and continue to be protected from floods by drainage banks and pumps. Polystovo-Lovatskaya swamp system is the biggest swamp in whole Europe which is located just km away from the border with EU countries, between Pskov and Novgorod regions. They tend to attract a lot of insects, which can spread disease; the sodden terrain can make traversing them on foot difficult; many swamps are prone to heavy fog because of all the water, which can make it easy to get lost; and some swamps are also inhabited by dangerous animals, such as alligators, crocodiles, and ….
A floodplain is created when a body of water, such as a river or the sea, overflows and submerges the surrounding land. This leaving mineral-rich sediment behind, creating new habitat like salt marsh.
Some are well known, such as the Mekong - 70 million people are reliant on the Mekong Basin. An estuary is where freshwater and saltwater meet, and often goes hand in hand with river deltas the surrounding landmass. Estuaries like the Severn are gateways for migrating wetland species like salmon and the critically endangered European eel.
The Severn is also the home of the magnificent Severn bore. Modern waterways are difficult for eels to navigate, so we are developing ways to help eels and other aquatic species get into and out of our wetland habitats.
In , WWT conservationists worked with Malagasy communities to release the Critically Endangered Madagascar pochard into Lake Sofia, and will continue to make improvements to this habitat. You may pass a local lake regularly but did you know that more than , species are known to live in freshwater ecosystems? Lakes are usually natural features, larger and deeper than ponds. At Slimbridge, the amount of ditches used by water voles went up from just m to over 15 kilometres in just four years thanks to sympathetic ditch management.
Ditches are man-made channels for the purpose of collecting water runoff. The humble ditch might not seem like much - but healthy ditches, both roadside and agricultural, can actually be hotbeds of life. For example, fenland ditches are one of the last strongholds of the rare great silver water beetle. Lowland wet grassland often occurs on farmland, where areas of the land are periodically flooded.
They provide vital nesting habitat for ground-nesters such as lapwing, curlew and black-tailed godwit, all species on the BoCC 4 Red List. Historically overlooked, marshes are wetlands populated by mainly herbaceous species not trees.
They provide natural drainage systems, water cleaning and flood defences for humans. The new formation of coastal salt marshes such as the Steart reserve is already protecting communities from flooding and drought. Mudflats are coastal wetlands that form in inter-tidal sheltered areas, usually visible during low tide.
Birds like the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed sandpiper will migrate across the world every season, stopping at tidal mudflats like the Yellow Sea in order to reach their breeding grounds.
These mudflats act like wetland 'service stations' for migratory birds. Peat bogs can come in two forms: raised bogs or blanket bog.
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