The Fens is exposed to climate change impacts. The low-lying region – home to the UK’s most fertile land – is on the frontline of rising sea levels. And it is the driest part of the country, with water shortages a real risk. Despite this, centuries-old drainage infrastructure treats water as a threat to remove, rather than a resource to conserve. This damages biodiversity and stops farmers making best use of their land. Meanwhile, increasing flood risk exacerbated by climate change holds back development – trapping residents in a low-value, low-wage economy.
The Fens is home to high quality farmland – 48.2% of England’s grade 1 agricultural land is found in the Fens, making it easily the nation’s biggest concentration of top quality farmland. Despite the very high quality of the surrounding land, very little land in the Fens is given over to high-value crops, such as fruit and berry production, or flowers. These only make up 1.2% of the horticultural land in the Fens. Cereals on the other hand constitute 53.1%, with cash roots, vegetables, and oilseeds taking up most of the rest.
These higher value crops have a bigger water take and depend upon reliable water supply. A lack of rain in this part of the country, combined with existing flood infrastructure which simply removes, rather than reuses, water, mean that much of the UK’s best farmland is not being used as productively as it could be, especially at a time where there is greater risk to import levels.
By managing water resources in this way, the Fens could improve its output by 44%, adding £4.4bn to its annual output.
More information about the Future Fen Strategy and its membership can be found here.
