Peatland Progression

The National Lottery Heritage Fund have confirmed their award of £8m for the Great Fen's Peatland Progress project - let the restoration work of 120 hectares commence!

We have spent the past year developing the full proposals for Peatland Progress: A New Vision for the Fens, and are delighted that the National Lottery Heritage Fund have now awarded the full grant of £8,186,200.

Tackling climate change and biodiversity loss through the purchase of Speechly’s Farm will unite the north and south ‘halves’ of the Great Fen. The land will be transformed into a mix of reedbed, open water, wet and dry grassland, providing additional habitat for the threatened wildlife and the partnership project will develop a model of agricultural production to inspire and change farming practice on peat soils across the UK.

Among crops already being trialled are typha bulrush, reed, floating sweet grass and sphagnum moss, all of which can be grown water-logged areas, keeping peat wet, preventing soil erosion and oxidisation and locking in CO2. This Trust and our partners are already in discussions with business leaders to explore uses for these experimental crops.

Lorna Parker, Kate Carver Gt Fen by Nik Shelton

The fluffy seed-heads of bulrush are already used in Germany to make insulation products for walls and roof spaces, and they also have the potential to be used in sustainable packaging. Sphagnum moss can replace peat as a growing medium for salad crops and its absorbent and antiseptic properties have medical and sanitary applications such as wound-dressing too. Reeds are used traditionally for thatching and can also be processed into sheet material or used as biofuel. Glyceria (floating sweet-grass) provides a potential alternative to dry-land cereals. Above, Lorna Parker Great Fen restoration manager and Kate Carver, Great Fen project manager with bulrush insulation, reed and sphagnum samples.

This innovative approach to farming on peat soils will keep carbon locked in, improve water quality, transform the landscape and secure the future for people, soils and wildlife of the Fens.  It also offers hope for the future of farming and as a mainstay for local prosperity, employment, wellbeing and Covid-19 recovery.

BCN CEO Brian Eversham says: "We are delighted by the confirmation of this very generous Heritage Horizon award of more than £8 million. The Peatland Progress project will further develop a model of agricultural production preventing loss of peat soils to help future proof farming while locking in carbon, cleaning water and supporting wildlife. This pioneering and important work is tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, while also addressing the anxieties of the next generation head-on."

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, says: “It is so exciting to confirm our award of over £8m to Peatlands Progress, a truly ambitious and visionary project. The scheme, part of our Heritage Horizons programme focussed on innovation in heritage, is a pioneer – leading the way for the Heritage Fund’s future ambition to champion large-scale, long-term and innovative solutions to climate change and nature’s crises, with people at the core.”

Peatland Progress is one of five ambitious and transformational projects across the UK to be awarded NHLF Heritage Horizon Awards. Grants of up to £12.4m were awarded to three environment projects, including Peatland Progress, the UK’s first Marine Park in Plymouth, and a large-scale partnership project to preserve the outstanding Cairngorm landscape. The International Museum of Slavery in Liverpool also receives funding for major redevelopment in Liverpool docks and Great Yarmouth Winter Gardens will be restored and brought back into a new, reimagined, use. The other four projects are currently working on development proposals to be awarded their full delivery grants.