Twenty sites that were part of the FEPP Discovery project were included in the FEPP restoration application to complete the development of their restoration plans and turn them into action. For a number of reasons five of the sites could not continue, but fifteen sites have, (Sept 2024) and some are already working on delivering capital restoration work.
Fens Lowland peat challenges
Dried out, degraded peat which is in danger of being lost forever through wind erosion
Unable to hold sufficient water on the site to maintain the required water level. This can be as a result of one or more situations. For example;
Leakage from the site as a result of water control structures and or bunding no longer working or not being in place.
Topography, whereby the water does not move across the site sufficiently or that the site is higher or lower than surrounding water channels and requires intervention to move the water onto a site.
Shortage of water. Site unable to collect and hold rain water and amounts that can be taken from water channels are controlled by abstraction licences. These licences are difficult to change to allow increase in the amounts abstracted and when this can be done.
The restoration objective for the sites is to raise water levels closer to the surface and hold them there for as long as possible through the year and seasonally allow the water level to increase above ground level in selected, controlled areas. To achieve this a number of different restoration activities are employed, these include:
- Ditch reprofiling
- Ditch blocking
- Installation of water control structures and waterproof membranes
- Bunding
- Bank improvements
After restoration work has finished the revegetation activities take place to reinstate the ground cover over disturbed ground and introduce fen plant species, the majority of sites rely on natural revegetation from the existing ditches.