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<p>The most recent assessment of the health of natural fenland habitats in England
was made in 2019 as part of UK reporting on the implementation of the EU Habitats
Directive. Under the Directive member states are required to achieve Favourable Conservation
Status - defined by range, extent, structure and function - for listed habitats of
high conservation significance.</p><p>The results in Table 1 below show the United
Kingdom's status, which is based on aggregation of data from the four countries.</p><p>Table
1</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Fen type</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Conservation
Status and Trend</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Future prospects</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Key
areas in England</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Transition mire and quaking bogs</p></td><td><p>Bad
- stable</p></td><td><p>Bad</p></td><td><p>West Midlands, Cumbria, New Forest</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tall
base-rich fens with saw sedge</p></td><td><p>Bad - improving</p></td><td><p>Bad</p></td><td><p>East
Anglia - Broads, Fens</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Petrifying springs with tufa formation</p></td><td><p>Bad
- deteriorating</p></td><td><p>Bad</p></td><td><p>North Pennines, Cotswolds, Yorkshire
Dales</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Alkaline Fens</p></td><td><p>Bad - stable</p></td><td><p>Bad</p></td><td><p>Norfolk,
Oxfordshire, North Yorkshire, Cumbria</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The future prospects of fens are
inextricably linked to health of the wider water environment, in particular the restoration
of more natural hydrological conditions in the sites and their catchments. Our environmental
land management schemes will contribute to the health of fens, by improving water
quality, air quality and biodiversity. The Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme,
aims to restore 35,000 hectares of peatland, including fens, by 2025. We have launched
the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which provides funding at a large scale for sustainable
land management practices. Currently the Sustainable Farming Incentive includes actions
for soil management, and we will be including more actions from 2023. Countryside
Stewardship already pays for actions which will benefit fens. We are evolving Countryside
Stewardship to make it more accessible, improving targeting and including additional
actions. We will be publishing more detail shortly on the actions we expect to pay
for in the future, including managing, restoring and creating wetland habitat such
as fens, and actions to improve water quality. The Water Industry National Environment
Programme will also contribute to the future of fens.</p>
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