Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

power the pumps necessary to maintain the lower water table. Between 1660 and
1695 the Scottish Parliament passed a series of acts bringing significant areas of
additional land into cultivation. The reclamation of much lowland peat bog, such as
the Carse of Stirling, took place at this time.
In more recent times, fens in the United Kingdom have been exploited for peat for
horticultural use. Some small industries associated with fen products have survived
into the 20 th century, such as the willow growing on the Somerset Levels, which has
declined due to replacement of baskets with plastic bags and cardboard boxes.
However some traditional skills and remedies were revived during the First World
War, such as the collection of sphagnum moss from Cleddon Bog in Wales for
wound dressings.
Agricultural policies introduced in the 1970s have failed to meet their aim of
maintaining rural populations and incomes. An unanticipated but equally serious
side-effect has been the loss of biodiversity which has resulted from the landscape
degradation directly attributable to these output-based policies. More recently,
sensitive agricultural and forestry systems have highlighted the major challenge for
land managers in the 21 st century of restoring and managing wetlands which for
the past few decades have not been considered as an integral part of wider land
management.
11.2 Opportunities for involving people with fens
Fens can provide quiet recreation, and offer unlimited opportunities to allow
and encourage appreciation of the unique wildlife which they support. On wet
fens, defined paths or boardwalks may be necessary to allow public access, but
information and interpretation at the edge of the fen can be just as effective as
provision of access to the fen itself in promoting enjoyment and understanding. On
some sites, visitors may get a better view from adjacent higher land, which can also
help set the fen in the context of the wider landscape.
Reserves with very large numbers of visitors, such as Wicken Fen and Ranworth in
East Anglia, can afford to make special efforts to allow people to see into the fen
from raised hides and visitor centres.
Use of traditional fen products such as reed and sedge thatching ensures that the Norfolk
Wildlife Trust’s visitor centre and hide at Ranworth Broad (left) and at Tower Hide at Wicken
Fen (right) are an integral part of the site’s interpretation (B. Madden, Norfolk Wildlife Trust).
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