Speechly’s Farm – an area of 136 hectares, almost the size of Hyde Park – will become one of the largest active wetland restoration sites in the UK over the next 12 months as pools, channels and reedbeds are created. Specialist weirs and other water control structures will be installed to raise the water table across the whole site, bringing millions of megalitres of water into the area, and with it wetland species including wading birds, water voles, otters, dragonflies and aquatic plants.

The work – funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund – is a significant step forward in the Great Fen vision. When it is complete two remaining fragments of ancient fen, Woodwalton Fen and Holme Fen, will be connected by wildlife habitat for the first time in centuries. This will allow species already there to spread and create space for new incoming species.

The plans include a 6.5 hectare trial wet farming site. Wet farming – or paludiculture – is a sustainable way of farming with a higher water table which locks carbon in the ground, protects peat soils, creates habitat for wildlife and futureproofs farming in the Fens. The Wildlife Trust has already created successful trial plots nearby, but this new area significantly increases the coverage.

Overall the restoration work at Speechly’s Farm will create 2km of channels and four pools. Until three years ago the land was farmed for wheat and potatoes before being sown to grass to secure the soil until work could start.

Lorna Parker, Great Fen project manager, said: “It’s taken a huge amount of work from a lot of people to get to this point so it’s amazing to see the diggers finally starting to create the channels which will soon fill with water and create a wetland landscape.

“We’ve just finished the restoration of New Decoy Farm nearby and we are already seeing waders and ducks dropping in – but Speechly’s Farm is on another scale of magnitude. This will significantly increase the space for threatened species in Cambridgeshire – we’re really excited to see what it’s going to become.

“But it’s not just about birds and butterflies – this site will showcase how conservation and farming can go hand in hand so that we can create a more sustainable economy in the Fens.”

Figures published by Cambridgeshire County Council state that degrading peat soils in the Fens is the single biggest source of carbon emissions in the county, outstripping all transport related CO2 combined. Less than 3% of the world’s land surface is covered by peat yet it accounts for 21% of all carbon stored in the ground. We have lost 99% of wet fen habitat in the east of England but the Great Fen vision has a long term aim to create a vast 14 square mile restored peat landscape alongside communities and profitable, sustainable farming.

The restoration at Speechly’s is a key part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund backed Peatland Progress project which also includes education, art, science and community outreach activities.