What’s new?
19 April 2007
The Great Fen Project acquires more land
One of Britain's largest habitation restoration projects progresses thanks to a local farmer
The Great Fen Project partners are delighted to announce today the purchase of Middle Farm, a 183 hectare site in the heart of the project area. This constitutes the third land acquisition of farmland by the project partners, and takes the total amount of farmland purchased to 300 hectares.
The Great Fen Project is one of the most exciting habitat restoration projects ever undertaken in Britain, and will create a 3,700 hectare wetland between Huntingdon and Peterborough. The wetland will safeguard threatened habitats and wildlife, and provide for leisure, tourism and business.
Middle Farm is a fantastic new acquisition for the project and furthers the potential for habitat restoration. The land will evolve from agricultural land to a haven for a wide variety of wildlife once common in the Fens, including birds, plants and insects.
The land was sold by local farmer, Jonathan Papworth, who will continue to manage the land and help restore it to wetland over three years starting at the end of 2007. Mr Papworth said he is "looking forward to a constructive future working with the Great Fen Project”.
The land, next to Natural England’s Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve, was purchased by the Wildlife Trust with financial support from Communities and Local Government, Waste Recycling Group Limited through GrantScape’s Biodiversity Challenge Fund, the Ramsey Area Partnership and the Miss A.C. Martin Legacy Trust Fund administered by Hewitsons. The funding from Communities and Local Government has been made available to create new areas of publicly accessible greenspace in a rapidly developing part of the country.
The Great Fen Project is also part of the Cambridgeshire Green Vision – an exciting twenty-year plan for extending and enhancing the county’s network of green spaces, protected sites and nature reserves to improve the quality of life for existing and future residents. Many organisations involved in environmental and countryside issues have come together to fulfil this vision, including the Great Fen Project partnership, consisting of the Environment Agency, Huntingdonshire District Council, Natural England and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough.
Great Fen Project Manager, Chris Gerrard, said: “This land acquisition is an exciting step forward for the Great Fen Project. It will enable us to realise further the project’s objectives of connecting and enlarging two vitally important National Nature Reserves and achieving the balanced goals of nature conservation, local access tourism and education. Working with Mr Papworth will show how other local farmers can have a long-term involvement in the project”.
To find out more about the Great Fen Project, visit www.greatfen.org.uk or call Chris Gerrard, Project Manager, on 01954 713500. To learn more about the Cambridgeshire Green Vision contact the Green Infrastructure Development Officer on 07920 296254 or email Helen.Ryde@cambridgeshire.gov.uk. To find out more about the GrantScape, visit www.grantscape.org.uk