UK wetlands are essential for rare wildlife, storing carbon, providing clean water and reducing flood risk, and are cherished by local communities. Yet these precious habitats remain under threat. We are committed to protecting and restoring them, and with your support we can secure their future.
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Hertfordshire’s wetlands are in crisis and among our most threatened habitats. Over the past 50 years, wetland species have declined by 47%, and 12 species have become locally extinct. Habitat loss, pollution, over-abstraction, invasive species, climate change and poor management continue to drive wildlife declines. Increasing droughts are drying wetlands and accelerating the loss of these vulnerable habitats and the species that depend on them.
Several of our nature reserves provide vital wetland habitat for vulnerable species, but action is needed to maintain and enhance them as wildlife refuges. We will improve reedbeds by cutting channels to create foraging and breeding habitat for wetland birds, including locally rare Bitterns. We will also restore wet grasslands through scrub removal, ditch clearance and grazing with Water Buffalo, and manage water-edge trees to improve bank stability and habitat for Water Voles, bats and birds.
