Martlesham Wilds: Restoring Nature’s Abundance

To develop ‘Martlesham Wilds’ (116 hectares of land SWT recently acquired in the Deben estuary) into an internationally-important nature reserve for multiple species. This will be achieved through the enhancement and creation of priority habitat types: creating new wetland features (freshwater scrapes, footdrains and ponds), restoring grazing marsh, and allowing the formerly arable fields to develop into ‘wilded’ areas of grassland scrub mosaic. The latter 2 habitats will be managed through the introduction of a low intensity conservation grazing regime, using large herbivores.

In total, 26.1 hectares of grazing marsh, 3.1 hectares of scrapes, 4 ponds, and 80 hectares of scrub mosaic will be created. Martlesham Wilds’ is set within a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering the River Deben and its banks. The estuary is a Ramsar internationally important wetland site and a Special Protection Area. It is also within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.