Bure LIFE

Title: Bringing the Bure back to LIFE: Hoveton Wetland Restoration Project

Summary: The Broads Natura 2000 network site is situated near the eastern English coast in the county of Norfolk. It is an internationally important wetland ecosystem and covers an area of 5 889 ha. Its lakes are a key biodiversity and iconic landscape feature that have suffered from a legacy of water quality issues. The Broads has a long-term restoration programme, which includes a Lake Restoration Plan that identifies and prioritises restoration actions. Hoveton Great Broad and Hudson’s Bay have been flagged as a priority for lake restoration work. These sites comprise 12.5% (36.51 ha) of the Broads Natura 2000 site and host naturally eutrophic lake habitats listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive. The sites' conservation status has been in an ‘Unfavourable No Change’ condition for at least 40 years mainly due to historic nutrient inputs from sewage works and diffuse sources. This has resulted in high algal biomass, loss of aquatic macrophyte biodiversity, turbid water, large amounts of fluid nutrient-rich sediment and shallow water depths, leading to an overall decline in the associated biodiversity, particularly birds and invertebrates.

The main aim of the Bure LIFE project is to restore the naturally eutrophic lake habitat to a species-rich, clear-water state through minimal carbon footprint project actions. The restoration work will also benefit EU priority habitats, such as calcareous fens with Cladium mariscus (7210*), and Annex II-listed Habitats Directive species such as otter as well as water fowl including wigeon, gadwall and shoveler.

Specifically, the project aims to: Improve the ecological condition of the naturally eutrophic lakes with Magnopotamion or Hydrocharition habitats (3150) within Hoveton Great Broad and Hudson’s Bay, bringing them to a ‘Unfavourable Recovering’ conservation status by 2020.

This will involve: o Sediment removal from both water-bodies; and o Biomanipulation of both lakes to achieve clear-water conditions, leading to an aquatic macrophyte dominated state; Re-use the sediment to create new areas of fen vegetation corresponding to the previous extent of marginal lake edge habitats, including calcareous fens with Cladium mariscus habitat and to help restore eroded river banks; Monitor the recovery process and disseminate best practice guidance associated with the restoration techniques to managers of similar habitats both within the SAC and elsewhere in the UK and the rest of Europe; and Raise awareness of anthropogenic impacts, improve physical and intellectual access and increase appreciation of biodiversity amongst local communities, visitors, land managers and a range of other target audiences. Expected results: Removal of around 59 600 m3 of sediment from the eastern end of Hoveton Great Broad (HGB); Removal of around 37 900 m3 of sediment from Hudson’s Bay and western area of HGB; Removal of 75% of the target fish species (principally roach and bream) through isolation of the lakes from the River Bure and Hoveton Marshes dyke network with six fish-proof barriers and a three-year fish removal programme; Increase in calcareous fen habitat area by re-using removed sediment at HGB and Hudson’s Bay to create 4.3 ha of species-rich fen in HGB and to create 1.7 ha of tall herb fen at Wroxham Island; A Monitoring Plan to capture the habitat response to the management actions and to monitor the success of moving the lake towards meeting its conservation objectives. (Monitoring will include water quality, zooplankton, phytoplankton, fish, macrophyte and invertebrate surveys); Increased awareness of anthropogenic impacts on, and appreciation of the biodiversity of the Natura 2000 sites through media presence (website, social media, press releases, videos, webcam of the tern raft, project leaflet) and through a programme of events engaging at least 25 000 locals and visitors and technical events for at least 300 professionals; Improved access to HGB and Hudson Bay through construction of 75m nature trail boardwalk, a landing area, two viewing areas, a 6m bridge, 12 interpretation panels and a tern raft; and Increased appreciation amongst local communities, visitors, land managers and a range of other target audiences.

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