Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

12.3 Support for other environmental services
Although difficult to quantify, fens often provide support for other environmental
services, including pollination of crops by wetland species, supply of nectar to
bees visiting a wetland, and nutrient cycling. An example of the importance of these
services is the Pembrokeshire honey industry, whose yields have been boosted in
the poor summers of 2007 and 2008 by the flow of nectar later in the year from
nectar-rich Himalayan balsam, a non-native plant which is usually criticised for its
invasion of wetlands.
12.4 Provision of cultural resources (or wildlife amenity)
Wetlands provide a wildlife amenity resource in a number of ways, of which
recreation is the most commonly recognised, but others include religious, spiritual
and aesthetic. Fens are arguably the most accessible wild landscape in the UK.
Fen-based nature reserves such as Vane Farm at Loch Leven in Fife, and Leighton
Moss in Lancashire, have level paths that are well screened from wildlife. It is
possible to park your car, walk a short distance to a hide, then sit and view rare
animals in their natural habitat. The level paths provide unrestricted access for
people of all ages and abilities, and excellent opportunities for education and
interpretation as the main elements of the ecosystem are visible.
The longer-term value of fens as an educational resource in developing society’s
appreciation of nature conservation, and thus in sustaining the indirect financial
resources for site management is extremely important.
12.4.1 Direct income
The simplest way of converting the wildlife amenity value of fens into income is by
charging for entry. Charging an entry fee obviously raises expectations in terms
of the quality of the amenity and provision of visitor facilities (e.g. boardwalks into
deeper areas of fen, comfortable hides, toilets, etc.), but additional income can also
be generated by visitor facilities such as cafes and shops. Charging a fee (or asking
for a donation) for corporate team-building activities is also a possibility, but any
enterprise which charges a fee increases management responsibility and needs to
be run properly.
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Examples of direct income generated by fens
– Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (www.wwt.org.uk) charge entry fees for their nine sites
around the UK ranging from £5 to £10 for adult day-entry.
– Electric powered boats (including one that is solar powered) provide trips on several
of the Norfolk Broads, including reserves closed to other boat traffic such as How Hill
and Hickling (see Section 11: Fens and People).
– At Slimbridge, canoe safaris help generate income. Other fens might be able to
organise fee-paying boat trips into routinely inaccessible parts.
– RSPB’s Loch Insh Marshes is used by Cairngorm Canoeing and Sailing School
and Loch Insh Chalets in their provision of local accommodation and canoe hire
for trips through the marshes and along the Spey. Further afield in the Netherlands,
a company offers holiday accommodation in the form of large rafts moored within
wetlands (www.campingraft.com).
– Shooting and fishing are a widespread source of income for wetland sites, for
example wildfowl shooting on Caerlaverock Marshes SSSI on the Nith Estuary in
Dumfries and Galloway, but careful management is required to safeguard biodiversity,
and to avoid conflict with public access.