Photo: Jamie Hall
Bogs & Bittern
A 2-year project to enhance, improve and expand seven wetland habitat sites within and beyond the Avalon Marshes landscape.
The Bogs & Bittern project
Wetland habitats are rich ecosystems that support a diverse range of wildlife, providing essential resources including food, water, and shelter. They also play a vital role in flood control, water purification, and carbon storage.
Our Bogs & Bittern project aims to help restore and expand seven very special wetland habitats across an area of 50 hectares of the Somerset Levels, which include freshwater, open water, reedbed, acid-raised mire, and wet grassland. By restoring these habitats, we can create good quality ‘stepping stone’ sites, strengthening the county’s Nature Recovery Network and enabling more species to travel within and beyond the Somerset Levels.
This restoration benefits lots of wetland species, including the bittern, but it is also allowing us to enhance hydrological resilience across the landscape, so it can better react and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The 2-year project is funded by the Government's Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies and is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
The natural environment is at a critical crossroads. It’s vital that we are able to strengthen the county’s nature recovery network by focussing on these key, and vulnerable ‘stepping stone’ sites in the Avalon Marshes.Head of Nature Recovery at Somerset Wildlife Trust
Reed beds and view towards Glastonbury Tor - Ross Hoddinott/2020VISION
Habitats
The project will create and restore across a mosaic of 7 broad habitat types, including freshwater open water, reed-bed, carr, acid raised mire, damp heath, fen and wet grassland.
Adder ©Jamie Hall
Species
A minimum of 83 individual species have been identified whose abundance can benefit from the project, from bittern to lapwing, and adder to great crested newt.
Project team
The project will be led by Nicky Hodges, Species Survival Fund Project Coordinator, and Andrew Robinson, Species Survival Fund LWS Ecologist.
This project is funded by the Government's Species Survival Fund.
Nicky Hodges
Nicky brings together experience from managing research and as a conservation volunteer to her new role coordinating action for nature recovery. She enjoys leading and doing practical conservation and citizen science. She is an ecologist with growing botany expertise, an enthusiasm for wetland habitats and a drive to achieve impact at the landscape scale. She is the project coordinator of the Bogs & Bittern project. This includes supporting the community-led wilding activities at St Bride's Mound fields near Glastonbury with Bridgwater Town Deal match funding.
Contact by email nicky.hodges@somersetwildife.org or 07521 424387
Andrew Robinson
Andrew is a very experienced ecologist who has worked in both public and private sectors and has a particular interest in grassland habitats. He has run courses to help volunteers improve their botanical skills. He also works with a variety of voluntary groups to record valuable scientific data and to enjoy the wider countryside. He is the Local Wildlife Sites ecologist for the Bogs & Bittern project.
Contact by email andrew.robinson@somersetwildlife.org
