Worlingham Marshes Funding Boost

National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting Suffolk Wildlife Trust with £2million towards new nature reserve at Worlingham Marshes.

National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting Suffolk Wildlife Trust with £2million towards new nature reserve at Worlingham Marshes.

Within the Lower Waveney Valley and the Broads National Park, 381 acres of land is set to become a new nature reserve under the custodianship of Suffolk Wildlife Trust – the county’s nature charity – who has received a grant of £1,999,832 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to create a landscape-scale nature corridor of east Suffolk.

Wildlife desperately needs habitats that are more expansive, ecologically-rich, and better connected with other natural areas and wild landscapes. The space that will become Worlingham Marshes nature reserve holds a key position within a corridor of wildlife-rich land in the Lower Waveney Valley, stretching from Beccles in the west to Oulton Marshes in the east, including Carlton Marshes – an existing Suffolk Wildlife Trust nature reserve.

Under the care of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Worlingham Marshes will be restored into a haven for wildlife - where the many rare and declining species that were once abundant here can thrive once again. Species such as

lapwing, redshank, and woodcock will find a haven in the wet woodland, whilst otters and water voles will use the restored network of waterways as corridors and breeding habitat. Matt Gooch, Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s North-East Suffolk Sites Manager, managing the conservation works on the new reserve, says: “Worlingham Marshes is a unique opportunity to develop a landscape-scale example of reversing wildlife decline and supporting nature to adapt to climate change. Less than 3% of land in Suffolk is reserved for nature, therefore we are very excited about the opportunity to protect more of the beautiful Waveney Valley, allowing more space for nature to thrive. We are hugely grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for supporting our vision.”

Liz Shaw, Head of Engagement, England, Midlands & East at The National Lottery Heritage Fund says: “We are delighted to support Suffolk Wildlife Trust with this ambitious project. Worlingham Marshes forms a vital habitat connection along the river valley, and through this project we hope to support the renewal of the area for wildlife, residents, and visitors. The development of large-scale nature corridors is so important in

combatting our declining natural heritage, and it’s thanks to National Lottery players that we are able to fund Worlingham Marshes.” Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s vision for Worlingham Marshes is to restore a classic Broadland landscape, with a wildlife-rich mosaic of grazing marsh, wet woodland, fen, scrub. Water levels will be managed to restore wet

fen on the peat soils, that will lock-up carbon and reduce the impact of flooding - harnessing the power of nature to combat climate change. Suffolk Wildlife Trust has a vision for a wilder Suffolk – where nature is thriving and abundant, because everyone is doing more to help. To help achieve a wilder Suffolk, the Trust is championing two collective targets in Suffolk that every sector of society needs to help achieve:

• To protect and restore 30% of Suffolk’s land and sea for nature recovery

• To inspire and support 1 in 4 people in Suffolk to take action for nature and climate

By securing Worlingham Marshes for nature, Suffolk Wildlife Trust increases take another step towards its strategic goal of protecting and restoring 30% of Suffolk’s land for nature recovery.