We are working to tackle the biodiversity crisis and make Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire wilder. The State of Nature report published last year shows that the UK's terrestrial wildlife is continuing to decline. We manage over 100 nature reserves, and work with owners of land between them, to ensure that habitats such as ancient woodland, wild fen, and chalk grassland can provide refuge for wildlife at risk of decline. One of the tools in our box is conservation grazing.

Over 40 of our reserves are grazed, including the suite making up the Nene Wetlands, predominantly by sheep and cattle. Getting the grazing right is a fine art and we approach it very carefully. We ensure that we use the correct breeds and amount of grazing pressure to create and maintain habitats. Too little grazing and scrub and rank grasses will develop, too much grazing and fragile habitats can be damaged.