This project started in 2003 with the aim to develop a strategy for wet woodland creation, expansion and management in the Peterborough area.

 

Wet Woodland is a Priority Habitat type under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) which is the government’s strategy for the conservation of biodiversity in the UK. Wet Woodland provides an important habitat for a number of species including otters, water voles, bats and numerous invertebrates.
 

 

Wet Woodland has been subjected to many pressures in the past including agriculture, industrial and residential development, the lowering of water-tables through drainage, river management, and flood prevention measures, contributing to the destruction of this habitat. Wet woodland now only exists as small or localised patches of habitat in river valleys, on ground surrounding bogs or mires, on the transition between open water and drier ground.

 

The Wet Woods inventory was completed in April 2004 and identified:

 

 

57ha of wet woodland creation is now planned over the next few years. This, along with private landowner schemes, will double the area of this valuable habitat in Peterborough within five year. Grant aid and advice will be continually provided by the project partnership to local landowners and managers to ensure that this valuable asset is both expanded and well managed.

 

This project was only possible through the working partnership of the Forestry Commission, English Nature, Peterborough City Council and Peterborough Environment City Trust.