Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

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Lough Beg (B. Hamill).
Lough Beg once held about 200 pairs of breeding waders but recently
only 70 pairs have been recorded at the site. Some species have
disappeared completely. The project aims to restore the wetlands,
primarily grasslands and fen, to their former glory. The target is to
restore breeding wader numbers to their original levels.
RSPB expertise and existing government resources have been
strategically targeted to deliver the restoration plan which also restores
priority habitats: fens; purple moor-grass, rush pastures and floodplain
grazing marsh. The restoration plan is being implemented on privatelyowned
land, where solutions to the restoration and management of
wetlands are being developed and carried forward to manage other
wetland sites facing similar issues within the wider landscape.
Cattle grazing fen
and wet grassland at
Lough Beg to provide
suitable condition for
breeding waders
(B. Hamill)
Some fen projects, such as those on basin fens, may not need to be ‘big’ in
terms of area to achieve significant results or to function at optimal levels. This is
particularly true for small wetland SSSIs which have survived as oases in a desert
of intensively managed agricultural land.
West Midlands Meres and Mosses Landscape Revival Project is a good
example of a successful project working across a large number of small
basin fens, pools and raised bogs set within the wider landscape.