Bure Valley

A living landscape for the Bure valley and interconnecting valley flood plains.

Introduction

Norfolk Wildlife Trust aim to deliver a major landscape scale ecological conservation project in the Bure Valley and interconnecting valley flood plains. It will be a major contribution to the Wildlife Trusts ‘A Living Landscape’ theme. The project aims to enhance the ecological resilience and connectivity of the Bure valley through a partnership approach to deliver a wide range of benefits for people, landscape and wildlife.

Background

The Bure valley living landscape area covers over 3000ha and is dominated by Broads’ floodplain grazing marsh with some arable farming. Ecologically the assets include a series of nationally important SSSI’s comprising grazing marsh, fen, wet woodland and broads.

The aim is to link together the SSSI’s by a mosaic of wetland habitats and create a naturally functioning ecosystem within the Broads National Park. Large areas of Bure Broads and Marshes are owned and managed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust with smaller holdings owned by Essex & Suffolk Water.

Benefits

Visitors to the area will benefit from improved access, education and interpretation. Following large scale creation and restoration, wildlife to the area should increase not only benefiting them but also the visitors that come to see them. In addition to the proposed facilities it is aimed that there will be events such as guided walks, volunteer work parties, school, educational and community workshops.

Improvements to the Bure valley and surrounding catchment area will help reduce water pollution, erosion and improve water quality benefiting both the aquatic and public communities. Creating this living landscape vision will link up fragmented pieces of land to help build resilience into the fragile ecosystem. Biodiversity and populations will increase providing the diverse species range with a greater chance of survival in the future when the effects of climate change will be challenge for all.

Project partners

Partners are likely to include;

Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Natural England
Environment Agency
Broads Authority
Parish Councils

N.B. This project is in early stages and has not been finalised. Please keep visiting this site for updates.