12 September 2006

Local Councillor Shona Johnstone will be getting her boots muddy when she goes to plant reeds at Needingworth Quarry.

Interview/photo opportunity: Shona Johnstone and her three children will be planting reeds from 2 pm on Saturday 23 September. For directions to the site, please contact Sophie Leadsom on 07766 441863. For interviews, please contact Eleanor Fretwell, RSPB Public Affairs Officer on 01842 862036.

Shona, county councillor for Willingham, will be planting reeds at the Hanson-RSPB wetland project. She’ll be joined by her family, sons Peter, aged 12, Tristan, 10 and Victoria, 11 to see at first hand how the RSPB is creating Britain’s biggest reedbed.

The first phase of this exciting project was completed in 2003, reed planting for phase 2 is now underway, and the landscaping for phase 3 is progressing well. All are steps to transform the quarry into a nature reserve rich in wildlife. The Hanson-RSPB Wetland Project will become a 700 hectare wetland over the next 30 years, following the extraction of 28 million tonnes of sand and gravel.

Sophie Leadsom has recently been appointed as the new Site Manager here for the RSPB, bringing with her several years of experience creating a wetland nature reserve on former carrot fields at RSPB Lakenheath Fen in Suffolk. She will help to create a wetland as the land is passed from Hanson to the RSPB in phases over the next 20 to 30 years. The nature reserve will eventually consist of some 460 hectares of reedbed, combined with open water and 32 kilometres of rights of way. The first reedbed block of 24 hectares was created in 2003 and the third phase, some 20 hectares, is underway this autumn. Each area will contain open water – small meres – linked by ditches and channels.

This new wetland will provide a vital habitat for rare wetland birds such as the bittern and marsh harrier. Reedbed is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan habitat, and this reserve alone will contribute 40 per cent of the target for recreation.

In the future, education and interpretation work on site will provide an opportunity for people to gain a greater understanding of the value of wet fens to their environment. There will also be an extensive network of footpaths providing a recreational resource for the surrounding communities living in the Fens to enjoy.

ends

For further information please contact

Sophie Leadsom, Site Manager 07766 441863 (mobile)
Shona Johnstone, 01954 230565 (home) or 07752 880344 (mobile).