Diggers move in to create new wetland

Diggers have started work on turning 25 hectares (62 acres) of land into new wetland habitat.

Groundwork has begun to create a new area of wetland at the Great Fen nature reserve, in Cambridgeshire, as part of The Great Fen project.

Work at New Decoy Farm, near Ramsey, will create channels that will eventually fill with water and help turn former arable fields into reedbeds, grassland and ponds.

Lorna Parker, Great Fen project manager, said: "A lot of planning and preparation work has led up to this moment, so it is fantastic to see the diggers breaking ground at New Decoy for the first time."

The work is part of one of the latest phases of the Great Fen vision, called the Peatland Progress, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The five-year project will see the linking of two remaining fragments of ancient fens, Woodwalton Fen and Holme Fen.

The Great Fen Vision began in 2000 as the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire came together with other bodies to create a 14-square mile (36 sq km) wetland landscape.

Ms Parker said: "It's great timing as this spring marks 25 years since we first started out on the Great Fen journey."

The new wetland will be created alongside a large winter water storage pool, ditches, and water control structures.

"It will look a bit messy in the short term as we move earth about, but the vegetation will quickly grow back and there will be a newly transformed landscape where people can enjoy nature for generations to come," she added.

Nearly 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of land is now under restoration management and work is set to begin at Speechly's Farm to continue joining the two National Nature Reserves.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.