Great North Fen -Phase 1 – Ricknall Carrs Land Purchase and Creation of Wetland Habitat Nature Reserve

The project will purchase marginal farmland across the floodplain of the River Skerne in southern County Durham and then restore lost wetland habitats. This will create a significant uplift in biodiversity by increasing the range of habitats, benefitting wetland plant species wading birds (including curlew, lapwing and golden plover) and mammal species such as the otter.
The project is the first phase of an initiative to create The Great North Fen, a 500 hectare patchwork of restored fen, wet woodland and ponds across the historic Carrs of County Durham – a vast wetland that was drained for agricultural purposes in the nineteenth century.