High Fen Wildland in Methwold Hythe provides ‘unique and wonderful habitat’ to protect species

A unique grassland area is providing a home for the “wilder side” of Norfolk - including deer and potentially water buffalo.

High Fen Wildland in Methwold Hythe plays an important part in protecting various species in our area by altering its 780 acres - around 720 football pitches - to provide a natural home right on the Fens and Breckland edge.

This is Nattegal's second site – a restoration nature company that has been around for four years with spaces in Lincolnshire and Essex – representing an incredible opportunity to take an ecologically important site and “supercharge” it for nature using natural processes.

Nattergal’s vision is to see a species-rich site but with largely one habitat type. With a few tweaks, “natural capital investment” and the reinstatement of natural processes, it delivers a “unique and wonderful habitat mosaic and wetland system” in the Fens.

It aims to build a project that cleans water as it filters through the habitats and one that prevents carbon emissions through re-wetting the peat.

And this is what it does at its High Fen Wildland site.

Those running the site, which was taken over three years ago, have a core belief of trying to make nature an “investable asset”. The for-profit company believes in restoring degraded ecosystems and altering the land to better reflect the value of nature.

Frank Street, site manager at High Fen Wildland, is a firm believer in connecting communities with nature, which the company is currently working on to bring more visitors to the area.

THE HISTORY OF THE SITE

The Methwold Hythe site is historically important for its biodiversity. It was used for arable farming until 1999, followed by daffodils, which struggled due to the wet conditions – the last crop could not be harvested as the ground had too much water.

In 2000, a conservation-minded owner implemented EU-funded schemes like Lapwing Prairies – a short sward of wet grass – but the site gradually degraded.

Over the years, several factors led to the site slowly degrading and becoming less and less productive for the grass, and then he looked to sell it.

It was purchased in December 2022 by the current owners.

Mr Street said: “It had already started its transformation into the wilder side of what nature wants it to be.

“The large-scale site is hydrologically altered by the cutoff channel, which reverses the water flow.”

LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE

Mr Street shared a vision for anticipated scrubland expansion, water pooling, and the formation of willow carr – a habitat that is disappearing from the UK. Most of it has already vanished.

They currently have red deer, roe deer, Chinese water deer, and muntjac on site to manage vegetation.

High Fen Wildland’s vision is to rewet the land for as much of the year as possible and to develop a far greater species richness.

On its dry land, the aim is for a mixture of scrub and woodland alongside dense species-rich grassland.

Grazing plans involve domestic cattle and potentially water buffalo, with consideration for Konik ponies, while maintaining low livestock numbers and a natural approach to their care.

Mr Street said the animals will live a “wild existence”.

He said: “They will be relatively friendly and not that bothered by people as they will have some level of training.

“I wont be artificially feeding them, I will let them stay out all year round, allowing them to calf naturally, allowing calves to stay with their mothers as long as they need to.”

If something goes wrong in terms of livestock, there is a barn on site, so they can be brought in if needed to - but Mr Street says by picking good breeds they shouldn't need to do that.

FINANCIAL MODEL AND CURRENT PROJECTS

Mr Street explained that the financial model relies on “natural capital markets”, utilising both “carbon credits from peat-rich areas” where the water will bring life and, as a result, will stop the peat from emitting CO2, and on the slightly drier parts of the site, “biodiversity net gain credits” are being used.

High Fen Wildland completed phase one of its water storage project between October and December and is currently preparing for phase two, which will focus on distributing stored water across the site to prevent loss into the cutoff channel.

Phase one gives the company the water storage areas, where teams extract in the winter to help fill up the storage areas. In the spring, they would then be able to bleed the water from the storage areas to the rest of the site.

Phase two is essentially an expansion of this, bleeding water from one end to the other of the site, preventing it from disappearing into the cutoff channel.

The site offers tours for members of the public to take a look at what High Fen Wildland is all about.