Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

have been designated under access agreements with district councils, who
maintain relevant information.
11.6.2 Encouraging further access
Providing for public access on fens is not just about respecting and incorporating
legal rights of access. Fen management should take account of where people
might wish to go, and why, and seek to identify opportunities to involve and engage
people with fens, provided access can be accommodated without detriment to
sensitive habitats or species.
Visitor management is often planned by defining zones within a site where different
activities have priority, for example at the RSPB at Strumpshaw Fen (see case study
at the end of this section). Informal ways of influencing what people do and where
they go can be just as effective, if not more so, than attempts to physically restrict
access. Provision of well maintained paths and boardwalks, good interpretation,
hides, and signage will encourage use by visitors and can be used to direct people
away from sensitive areas. Developing paths through easier terrain adjacent to a
fen offers the chance to show a wider variety of habitat and to set the fen in context.
Planning paths, boardwalks and for public access on fens
– Respect and take account of existing legal rights of public access.
– Consider different modes of access and types of visitor: walkers,
horse-riders, cyclists, those with buggies or in wheelchairs.
– Consider how public access may affect sensitive habitats and
species, and route.
– Paths or boardwalks to minimise disturbance to breeding birds and
mammals
– Link access provision to interpretation.
– Adopt a “least restrictive” access policy to provide for as wide a
range of people as possible, including those with restricted mobility
or visual impairment. Countryside for All (Fieldfare Trust, 2009)
provides further guidance.
– Link access provision to key entry or exit points, visitor centres and
hides.
– Explore scope to link the fen with other promoted paths, and/or
other habitats.
– Carry out a risk assessment and take heed of visitor safety
(see 11.4 above)
Above: A wide range
of visitors and modes
of transport can be
accommodated on
fenland sites by provision
of suitable access, as
seen here at Wicken
Fen, Cambridgeshire
(photograph courtesy of
the National Trust)
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