National nature reserve ‘turns on the tap’ to create winter wetland for wildlife and reduce CO2 emissions - National Trust
This month, rangers at Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Cambridgeshire, cared for by the National Trust, will turn on taps across the site to allow water to flow from the lodes on higher ground to the lower laying fens, creating standing pools of water to create a winter wetland for wildlife, as well as sequestering carbon.
A significant moment in the year for the site, the added water helps create wetland conditions for the winter months that will attract wildfowl including wigeon, teal, shoveler, gadwall, geese, egrets and sometimes whooper swans.
Ajay Tegala, Ranger at the National Trust’s Wicken Fen, explains: “We have six taps which we turn on using a metre-long metal key, allowing water to flow through a pipe onto the fens. Because the lodes are higher than the surrounding ground, gravity enables the water to flow without having to resort to pumping. There is immediate visual impact as water rushes through and swells up, forming a sort of miniature fountain. Then, water can be seen flowing. A couple of days later, the spectacle continues when the standing water starts to attract a huge variety of wildfowl who find food and safety in these wetland areas. Roosting on water overnight helps them feel protected from potential predators, for example foxes, that are potentially put off by having to wade through water. A flowing river could wash birds away while they rest overnight, but the shallow depth of water on the Fen means that its relatively still, creating an ideal habitat.”
Turning on the taps for winter also helps to restore rare fenland habitat that was lost due to agriculture-related drainage centuries ago, reinstating higher water tables that support wetland birds and wildlife and boosting biodiversity at this internationally important NNR.
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Posted On: 24/11/2023