The Fens East Peat Partnership (FEPP) is part of the Fens for the Future Partnership. That is why we use the same logo but with a different name to indicate the focus of the partnership. When FEPP formed in 2021, to apply for a Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme Discovery Project, the partners were; Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust (lead partner), Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Natural England, RSPB, the National Trust and The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
During the Discovery project additional site owners became involved and we now have more partners, who are private land owners involved with Lowland Peat restoration work.
FEPP delivered a successful Nature for Climate Peatland Discovery Grant between January 2022 and August 2023. The funding enabled us to carry out restoration development work which included detailed surveys on the extent of degradation, peat depth and archaeology on 20 sites across the Fens National Character Area (Number 46) of Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. With this information and working with landowners and farmers, we developed restoration plans for the sites to restore the damaged peat.
In September 2023 FEPP was awarded a Nature for Climate Restoration Grant to undertake the restoration work on fifteen of the sites we began work on in the Discovery Grant period.
The objectives of the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme are:
and FEPP is contributing to these objectives by working on restoring these Fen Lowland peat sites to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep carbon locked in, benefitting the environment, people and wildlife.
The restoration work will take place between September 2023 and March 2025. Work includes securing the sites hydrologically to manage water levels within the site and to ensure surrounding land is not impacted by the changes. As the sites are restored, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced and Fen peatland biodiversity will begin to develop and increase.