Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

9. Creating Fen Habitat
Concern about the loss of fen habitat and fragmentation of
remaining fens has prompted various national and local strategies
aimed at creating fens from new, rather than ‘simply’ restoring
extant fen. The UK BAP for wetlands, for example, includes a
target to create eight new ‘landscape scale’ wetlands of which fen
might be a major component, as well as a further target to restore
2,800 ha of former fen. Many local BAPs also include strategies
for wetland creation, as do some of the regional spatial strategies
(formerly Regional Planning Guidance), which provide a broad
development 15-20 year strategy for each region in England. In
Scotland, wetland creation, including fens, is included in the Rural
Development Programme (RDP) and Stewardship schemes (see
Section 12: Fens from an Economic Perspective).
This section considers the practicalities of fen creation, including
the various steps involved from identifying suitable sites, design
of the proposed fen and applying for the necessary consents,
to options for vegetation establishment. Each site will vary
depending on size, location, hydrology, geology, biology and
human aspects, but the techniques and approaches outlined
below will provide a basic framework for those considering
fen creation, and are equally relevant to many aspects of fen
restoration.
Experience of fen creation in the UK is more limited than for
some other wetland habitats, but much of the experience gained
from reedbeds is relevant to fen creation. The Habitat Creation
Handbook for the Minerals Industry (White, G. J. and Gilbert, J. C.
(eds) 2003) provides an up to date summary of such techniques.
Anyone involved in fen creation is encouraged to document and
monitor their project, and to share their experience to improve our
collective knowledge of successful schemes and techniques.
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