Suffolk Broads

Wildness as far as you can see

Pleas help e raise us milli £1 on

...if we can raise £1 million

STEVE AYLWARD; MARSH HARRIER: THOMAS HANAHOE ALAMY, TOM MARSHALL

“Please help Suffolk Wildlife Trust rescue this precious corner of East Anglia and bring back wildlife in all its splendour” Sir David Attenborough

An exhilarating wild landscape on your doorstep. Please donate at

suffolkwildlifetrust.org

Restoring a magnificent wild landscape in the UK’s most nature-rich National Park In every way, the scale of the opportunity Suffolk Wildlife Trust has now to buy the fields flanking our Broadland nature reserves is unprecedented.

The ecological value of the current reserves is reflected in the national and international habitat protection given to them, but it was only relatively recently that the incomparable richness of the Broads National Park became clear to ecologists. We now realise the diversity of species and the number of rare and unique species that depend on the Broads for their survival far exceeds all other UK National Parks.

hope it will ultimately become the Suffolk Broads National Nature Reserve.

So, the chance to create 1,000 acres of wildness in the Broads, is of national significance for wildlife. We

ÂŁ1 million is an ambitious sum to raise, but so too is the scale of the wild landscape we will create.

THE BROADS NATIONAL PARK

The River Waveney, Oulton Dyke and Oulton Broad create connections into the Broadland landscape beyond the reserve. Add to this the marshes that are maintained by neighbouring landowners and the impact for wildlife escalates yet more.

Bigger

JOHN LORD, REDSHANK: DAVID KJAER

Better Joined-up

View northwards across the landscape that will become the Suffolk Broads nature reserve.

Suffolk Broads nature reserve

Plea s help e raise us milli £1 on

SUFFOLK BROADS NATURE RESERVE LAND PURCHASE OPPORTUNITY

SWT nature reserves 627 acres Opportunity now Total area

384 acres 1,011 acres

SWT education centre

LOWESTOFT

Railway line

Peto’s Marsh 2 MILES

Marshes managed for wildlife by our neighbour

Oulton Marshes Ou

lto

nD

yk e

Oulton Broad

Carlton Marshes Share Marsh Castle Marshes

A PLACE FOR PEOPLE TOO

Take a flight over the nature reserve at

suffolkwildlifetrust.org

“

The reserve can be easily reached by train, boat, car, bus, bicycle – or on foot from much of Lowestoft.

Few wild places of such size and importance are located this close to so many people and so many schools.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s ambition to extend Carlton and Oulton Marshes is a unique opportunity to do just this and it has my whole-hearted support Sir David Attenborough

Making more space for nationally rare wildlife Press cuttings from 1978 record the protests of local naturalists to the sale of the land we now have the chance to buy. Sadly, their fears for the loss of so much wetland wildlife were to be realised, when the marshes were drained and ploughed up.

The new reedbed will be the largest in the Broads, supporting breeding marsh harrier and bittern, as well as reed bunting, grasshopper warbler and lesser known reedbed species like white mantled wainscot moth, which has only been found in Suffolk.

The network of freshwater ditches will be amongst the best in the UK. Specialist plants like bladderwort and water soldier and vulnerable aquatic

Chinese water deer

invertebrates that are wholly dependent on Broadland, will be able to spread across the landscape through seven miles of restored water-filled ditches. For some of the aquatic snails this will take decades, whilst more mobile species like water vole, fen raft spider and Norfolk hawker will soon be on the move.

Over 150 acres of marsh, fen meadow and shallow pools will be created, with thousands of metres of soft muddy edges, for wintering wildfowl and nationally declining waders like lapwing and redshank to feed.

Buying the land now will secure its future as a home for wildlife, for ever.

Bittern

PAUL SAWER FLPA

We can never replace all that was lost, but by creating the mix of wet habitats they need, we can bolster the populations of nationally rare animals and plants that have been protected by the nature reserve.

Bogbean

In the early 1970s, marsh harrier numbers in the UK were perilously low.

Their breeding success at Carlton Marshes made a significant contribution to their UK recovery.

Norfolk hawker

“

The natural world needs our help as never before. What a tremendous opportunity this is to repair the mistakes of the past and bring nature back to this special part of the Broads John Packman CEO Broads Authority

Ever dona y will tion h wild elp life

KEVIN SAWFORD

Bearded tit

Barn owl

Water vole

Lapwing

PHOTOS: ERNIE JANES ALAMY, DAVID HERMAN, STEVE AYLWARD, FRANK SOMMARIVA, GARY SMITH FLPA, GAVIN DURRANT, FLPA

A wilder, more exciting landscape to explore with your family & friends After decades of artificially low water levels, we will work with nature to restore the landscape of reed, marsh and fen that make Broadland so special.

Re-wetting the marshes, reinstating long lost ditches and planting reedbeds will need an ambitious restoration programme to create the foundations for a wilder landscape to develop.

Beyond this, we will encourage nature to take the lead, so that wildlife can reclaim its place in a flourishing wild landscape.

As you wander around the marshes, you will be able to follow the emergence of this new landscape and share the excitement of the wildlife that it attracts.

“

This will be an exceptional place for wildlife and for everyone who enjoys the spectacle of the natural world Matt Gooch Broads Warden

Local children enjoying a school day on the marshes Dipping a net into the water-filled ditches is a journey into a hidden world of predatory water beetles, prehistoric dragonflies and insect eating plants.

The nature reserve is free for you to enjoy Browse our events on suffolkwildlifetrust.org ANDREW MARSH

“

Wellies & an inquisitive mind are all a child needs for an adventure on the marshes

PHOTOS: JOHN FERGUSON

Jo Shackleton Education Officer

A fabu l plac ous et visit o

for family days & children’s activities

Together we can create the wildness nature needs Suffolk Wildlife Trust is your local nature charity.

We have cared for Lowestoft’s Carlton Marshes nature reserve for over 40 years and thousands of schoolchildren have learnt about nature with our education team.

Plea help se rais us mill e £1 ion

We have the opportunity now to buy the fields alongside Carlton Marshes. It is the biggest land purchase Suffolk Wildlife Trust has ever undertaken – and it’s happening on your doorstep!

Your donation will be matched by donations we have already received and approaches to funders like the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This means we can turn every £10 you give into £30 of nature reserve.

Together we can raise £1 million.

JOHN FERGUSON

Please give whatever you can.

Your local Suffolk Wildlife Trust team Matt Gooch Broads Warden Jo Shackleton Education Officer

You dona r ti will on b tripl e ed

Each £10 you give will turn into £30 of wildness on your doorstep Suffolk Wildlife Trust Brooke House Ashbocking Ipswich IP6 9JY info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org Registered charity no 262777

PDonate online suffolkwildlifetrust.org PDonate by phone 01473 890089 PDonate by cheque, payable to Suffolk Wildlife Trust