Wicken Fen Cambridgeshire
Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire is the oldest nature reserve in Britain, a fragment of the original fenland that once covered vast areas of East Anglia that has been managed by the National Trust since 1899 and provides the only surviving example of the natural fen habitat that has been almost completely drained and converted to agriculture across the rest of the region. The combination of the extraordinary ecological importance, the historical depth of the conservation tradition and the remarkable wildlife accessible at close range makes Wicken Fen one of the most significant natural heritage sites in England. The fen supports an exceptional variety of wildlife adapted to the wetland habitats of open water, reedbed, sedge fen and fen meadow that have largely disappeared from the wider fenland landscape. Over 8,000 species of plants, insects and animals have been recorded on the reserve, including over 1,000 beetle species alone, a diversity that reflects the complexity of the ancient fen ecosystem and the sustained quality of the management that has maintained it. The National Trust is engaged in a long-term project to extend the fen by purchasing and rewetting surrounding farmland, aiming to create a fen of approximately 5,300 hectares over the next hundred years in one of the most ambitious rewilding projects in England. The project is converting intensive arable land back to wetland habitat in a reversal of the drainage that destroyed the original fen, creating new habitat for the wildlife that has survived in the Wicken fragment. The fen tower hide and the board-walked trails through the reed provide excellent wildlife watching in every season.