No mention of how detrimetal the drainage of the fens has been for the ecology. The shear amout of soil loss in the fenland over the past 100 years is staggering, and without drastic land management changes I don't believe it will be productive farmland all that much longer. I have spent time there recently and although a beautiful region, for such a wet landscape the amount of insects was dismal. Probably something to do with the multiple sprayers always on the horizon.
@@kendal5210 The people were not starving prior to the fens being drained. The land was tidal and still farmed just not in the same way we do it today in a mass produced sense. A lot of the draining of the land was due to Dutch Entrepreneurs looking to take a claim on the land by draining and selling it. I understand though that if the fens was restored to all that it was , our current system of mass produced farming would result in food shortages. But why does it always have to be an all or nothing argument. I'm sure we could restore fenland alongside continuing farming practices.
@@kendal5210 Britain can't survive on it's own food anyway, certainly not on the modern diet of tropical and Mediterranean ingredients. Flooding the fens would create a more attractive landscape with more wildlife and would bring more tourists. I think East Anglian farming should move towards more compact greenhouse farming like the Netherlands are doing anyway.
@@MeowTheCheesepuff - islam is a religion of peace, diversity is our strenght and Britain sucks ... All or nothing ? It is 2021 not 1630 ... Modern farming feeds human beings . How many tractors do you use on your farm ? Ho many acres do you plant/harvest ? Think you understand food markets and commodities trade ? This is the problem with the "Allknowing-Internet" ... It spreads by memes and feelings . How beautifull life was in 1620 ... How Bucolic is was to see calf and mother cow nesting together ... 2021 Mate ... islam is a crass ideology, diversity without integration to UK culture is BS and Britain is a good place to live . I am not even British ;) Good day Theo, from Canada ( a colony far away in the Boonies ;) ) .
Really wanted to watch this as this is my local patch, but that annoying fairground music in the background is too loud and can't hear what the lady is saying, absolutely no need for it.
That was most informative. You said the pumping stations put the excess water to higher level rivers? How far away are they then? And is water in the reserve affected by sea water and thus is brackish or is all the fen water being drained fresh water? Many thanks indeed for this useful and informative video.
Yes lets take one of the most biologically diverse and effective terrestrial carbon storing systems in the world, that is a natural flood defence, and provides ecosystem services that benefit us such as cleaning our drinking water, and replace it with MORE dry land for agriculture! yay! thanks for protecting our bests interest! it'll only take thousands of years to restore the fenland to its former glory after being drained and degraded... with potentially serious implications for its soil and water chemistry, not to mention GHG release
