'A game-changer': the 9,000 acre project reclaiming the Fens for nature

The Great Fen scheme in Cambridgeshire will attract rare wildlife and play a vital role in restoring the UK equivalent of the rainforest - and it has just taken a great step forwardLooking north from Woodwalton Fen nature reserve, in Cambridgeshire, visitors get an uninterrupted view of Britain's flattest landscape. An entire hemisphere of sky hangs over a network of carefully drained fields that stretch to the horizon without a hill or mound in sight. Potatoes and other root crops grow in profusion in the rich, peaty soil.But change is coming to this quiet corner of fenland - thanks to one of the largest and most ambitious restoration schemes ever launched in Europe: the Great Fen project. Organised by Wildlife Trust conservationists, the project has already cost ?10m and its price tag could reach ?30m by the time it is completed, they say. Continue reading...