Nature recovery

The good news is – nature can recover, given the right conditions.

Forty years ago, poor water quality in the Broads meant we were at a tipping point. Thankfully, public, private and voluntary organisations all contributed in their own way and as a result, some of the wildlife in the Broads is thriving.

However, over the same period many species have been lost and many more are under threat from climate change. A quarter of the UK’s rarest species live in the Broads, many of international importance, and we need to keep recovery moving forward, in the face of challenges from climate change, flooding and population growth.The Broads Nature Recovery Strategy 2024-29 is part of the Government’s Nature Recovery Network, and combines with Norfolk and Suffolk’s Local Nature Recovery Strategies to prioritise and map action. You can read more about the Broads strategy on our website. broads-authority.gov.uk/looking-after

Volunteer power

If anyone demonstrates the power of individuals and volunteers in contributing to nature recovery, it’s Kath Warner, who in 2024 received the Saving Species Award, which is sponsored by the RSPB, at the Norfolk Community Biodiversity Awards. Kath was nominated by the Broads Authority. The award was in recognition of her exceptional dedication, over 1,375 hours, to surveying wildlife species in the Broads National Park, working with our ecology staff, and using her knowledge and skills to support new survey volunteers.

Here Kath tells us a bit about the background to all those hours.

Delving into the archives

I’ve been looking back in my old notebooks. Here’s how it started. I saw some info in the (then) tourist information centre at the Guildhall in Norwich and followed it up. I started as a Broads Authority (BA) volunteer in February 1994. It was my weekly day out after dropping my boys at first school (they were six and eight, now 36 and 38!). I used to drive to the volunteering site and meet the BA minibus with the other volunteers. (The BA now pays travel expenses.) Then at the end I’d leave early to get back to the school.

An inspiration

Phil Heath (still with the BA) was one of the supervisors of what was then called the fen team and he was really instrumental in encouraging my interest in wildlife. He was the quiet but knowledgeable one! I started as a scrub-basher (clearing invasive plants) and gradually picked up survey work as it fitted in with changes in my life – it was easier to work in my own time than do a set day with the group.

Surveying the scene

I started with the ecology team in 2011 and my survey work started in the following year – listening and watching for bittern, and then butterflies (including the swallowtail and milk parsley, the food for its caterpillar), sometimes working with the Toadies (that’s staff at Toad Hole Cottage). In July 2014 I started on mink – one of the invasive species we need to discourage in order to help the water voles. Marsh harriers, fen plants, water plants – I seem to have surveyed just about everything, though through it I’ve realised that it’s only a fraction really. I’ve also seen the BA volunteer service evolve and grow. There are now about 120 active BA volunteers, working in all services – with rangers, with planning, education and visitor services staff, and working on conservation management and equipment maintenance. If you’re interested, there’s sure to be a place for you to fit in.

If you volunteer outdoors you’re certainly aware of the weather, be it rain or baking sunshine, and you can be wading through water, mud, reedbed and boggy locations. Monitoring wildlife informs national statistics and though I’m not usually familiar with the detail of projects, I know it’s a vital part of planning projects, whether it’s management of Buttle Marsh near How Hill or construction of moorings at Peto’s Marsh at Carlton Marshes – that involved not disturbing all the local reptiles. For me, less survey work is done in the autumn and winter so they are times for other activities – walking and enjoying seeing the wildlife if not formally recoding it. And I now have binoculars to hand wherever I am in the house!

What next?

For those of us involved in wildlife issues it frequently seems an uphill struggle and we can get very excited by a small victory in the re-emergence or recovery of one particular species. But I think the most hopeful factor is that there is much wider awareness now of how bad things are, due partly to the likes of David Attenborough, Chris Packham and others talking about serious issues, things being done in schools, Forest Schools – so it’s not just preaching to the converted. People are generally more aware of trying to 'do their bit’.

Where and when to see wildlife

Have a look at the Broads nature reserves on VisitTheBroads.co.uk/nature-reserves. Every season has its special wildlife interests.

The big six

You may be familiar with Arthur Ransome’s classic Broads stories, Coot Club and The Big Six (if not, do look out for them and enjoy tales of dastardly deeds), but these six are rather different. Do you ever wonder what’s going on unbeknown to you in the little waterways you pass as you’re paddling or walking? Well, there’s a lot going on! These six in particular are physically small but their significance is enormous – they are very rare snails, all found in the Waveney valley.

Ditches and snails

Back in 2018 the Broads Authority commissioned a survey to assess the aquatic invertebrate diversity and conservation value of the Waveney valley. One of the aims was to provide a best practice guide for land managers, to help maintain the great diversity of wildlife in the marsh ditches and in particular, the aquatic snails.

Biodiversity

The survey looked at 274 ditches from Bungay to Burgh St Peter and Blundeston, and found good quality water supporting over 260 species of aquatic wildlife, including plants, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals such as the water vole and water shrew. Two hundred and sixty-five plants species were found, including 33 aquatic plants, 69 wetland plants and 42 marginal plants. Nationally rare plant species included frogbit and tubular water dropwort. The invertebrates included the Norfolk hawker dragonfly and the great silver diving beetle – in all over 100 species of aquatic beetle were found. But the big story is the big six snails. These six rare aquatic snails have their UK stronghold in the Waveney valley marshes, especially the eastern part, with their best habitat at Aldeby, North Cove, Barnby, western Carlton Colville and Burgh St Peter. The phrase ‘dull as ditchwater’ suddenly sounds very inappropriate – it turns out ditchwater can be pretty amazing…

The rare snails

- Little whirlpool ramshorn snail – protected under UK and European law; only found in three places in the UK – the Waveney population is the largest

- Shining ramshorn snail

- Large-mouthed whorl snail

- Slender amber snail

- False orb pea mussel

- Desmoulin’s whorl snail