87 - East Anglian Chalk : Analysis: Ecosystem Services

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Soils
• Grade 2 and 3 land
• Arable farming
• Aquifer
• Grassland
• Vine growing

State – Soils are predominantly nutrient-poor and shallow on the escarpments, with better soils at the base of slopes.

Cereal production accounted for over half of the farmed area and this has increased by 4 per cent between 2000 and 2009. There has also been an increase in oilseeds and a decrease in grassland in the same period.

Between 2000 and 2009, cattle and sheep numbers declined. The numbers of sheep have slightly reversed a long term decline.

Chilford Hall is one of England’s oldest established vineyards.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – Food provision is a significant service in the

East Anglian Chalk but intensive cultivation of land may also lead to loss of water quality due to nitrate inputs.

Livestock and meat production are generally limited. Despite the history of sheep grazing the area is not associated with any traditional rare breeds and there are also no local foods recognised at a regional or national level.

Extensive arable land and limited semi-natural habitat reduces the range of nectar sources for pollinating insects.

Soil regulation may be reduced if more land is cultivated and if it replaces semi-natural habitats such as species-rich grassland.

Climate change may encourage the expansion of vineyards in the area, with free draining ‘flinty’ soil overlaying Chalk; south-west-facing slopes to maximise available sunshine are suitable for vine growing.

Opportunities – Encourage sustainable farming practices including compliance with nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) regulations.

Encourage sheep grazing on biodiverse grasslands to benefit biodiversity and sense of place.

Resource-efficient farming should be encouraged and risks identified and managed to reduce negative impacts, for example, arable reversion should be targeted to areas of high soil-erosion risk and fertiliser use minimised where infiltration into the aquifer is rapid.

Optimise benefits for farmland birds and rare arable plants by maintaining stubble and field margins providing winter food, and safe nesting habitats.

Opportunity for further vineyard establishment.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Food provision
• Regulating soil erosion
• Regulating soil quality
• Biodiversity
• Regulating water flow
• Regulating water quality
• Sense of place/inspiration

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Beech and conifer woodland

State – There are only 4,095 ha of woodland within the NCA, covering 5 per cent of the area. Limited new planting has taken place.

Certain high points have small beech copses or ‘hangers’ which are prominent and characteristic features in the open landscape.

Some woodlands are used for shooting.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Commercial timber production is limited as certain species, including conifer plantations, do not reach full maturity on thin soils and become subject to drought stress which is likely to be exacerbated with longer, drier summers resulting from climate change.

There is potential to develop small-scale local markets for timber products.

New planting has taken place in the NCA, mainly in the form of smaller plantations scattered through the area, and there has been an increase in active management through the Woodland Grant Scheme.

Parts of the area provide valuable habitat for partridge shoots.

Opportunities – Promote and develop very local, small- scale markets and added value products, for example fencing.

Woodlands managed for timber can also be managed to provide public amenity opportunities and conserve heritage.

Agri-environment schemes could help alleviate the impact by buffering shallow-rooted trees from the impact of cultivation using field/grass margins.

Planting of new beech hangers on carefully- sited knolls, hill tops and scarp tops would form focal points to re-enforce the local chalkland landscape character.

Promoting further partridge shooting with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation to encourage their responsible members to undertake woodland management.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Timber provision
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history
• Biodiversity
• Regulating soil quality

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Chalk aquifers
• Rivers, streams and wetland areas

State – There are no major rivers running through the NCA.

There is a chalk aquifer under the majority of the NCA. Low flows and the cessation of flows, caused by water abstraction and drought, affect water course habitats and adjacent habitats in the NCA.

The majority of water supply to Cambridge comes from these chalk strata aquifers south of the city.

The River Rhee and the River Granta have an ‘over licensed’ CAMS status (The Cam and Ely Ouse Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy, Environment Agency, March 2007). The River Ivel currently has a ‘no water available’ CAMS status and the River Hiz has an ‘over abstracted’ status (The Upper Ouse and Bedford Ouse Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy, Environment Agency, March 2005).

For the River Kennet, it is stated that the river should not have any additional water licensed during low flows.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – Abstracted water used for drinking water supplied to the region is likely to affect water availability in drought conditions.

Spring-fed fens and mires are suffering from low flows and/or the absence of flows at times of the year due to abstraction and drought. This leads to a lowering of the water table and drying of the soils, which in turn leads to nutrient release and a replacement of fen species by dry land species.

Low flows and the cessation of flows, caused by water abstraction and drought, affect water course habitats and adjacent habitats in the NCA.

Opportunities – Work in partnership with water companies across the water supply network area to secure sustainable abstraction and consumption including engaging water consumers about negative impacts of unsustainable abstraction upon East Anglian chalk streams.

Seek opportunities for the restoration of low-input and unimproved grassland and the creation of buffer strips for wildlife, where appropriate, within catchments in the NCA to reduce run-off and provide improvements to water availability of the rivers and main aquifer.

Maintain and restore semi- natural habitats and woodlands to intercept and infiltrate surface water down into the aquifers.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Water availability
• Regulating water quality
• Biodiversity
• Regulating soil quality
• Climate regulation

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Orchards

State – Several small, mainly unmanaged, orchards are found in this NCA.

Increasing interest in managing and planting community orchards in villages.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – These small-scale orchards are in decline; however, they preserve a number of local varieties.

Through the work of the East of England Apples and Orchard Project there has been an increase in the awareness of traditional varieties of orchard fruits.

There is some evidence of and potential to develop and market local produce, for example, Fulbourn villagers marketing Fulbourn apple juice.

Opportunities – Engage owners in managing their orchards, following guidance of the East of England Apples and Orchard Project to conserve the genetic diversity they contain along with their biodiversity and cultural heritage.

Encourage further development/marketing of local products.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Genetic diversity
• Biodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history
• Food production

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Existing woodland

State – Woodlands over 2 ha in size cover 5 per cent of the NCA.

The Energy Crops Scheme 2000-2006 did not fund any miscanthus or short rotation coppice crops in this NCA.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – The existing woodland resource has limited potential for the local provision of biomass.

Potential miscanthus yield in the NCA is generally high, although there are areas of medium potential around Cambridge, to the north east of Baldock and around Royston.

Opportunities – Ensure existing woodlands are managed to produce surplus timber that could be used to provide local sources of biomass.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Biomass energy
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Mineral soils
• Semi-natural grassland
• Wetland
• Existing woodland
• Organic matter in soils

State – The chalk soils over most of the NCA have a low carbon content (0-5 per cent) although there is a band of soils running from the north to the south-west of the NCA with a higher carbon content (5-20 per cent) likely to be associated with the peaty surface soils found in the north and north-west of the NCA and with woodland and wetland habitats.

Rendzina soils are also likely to store carbon in this NCA.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – As low levels of organic matter in soils are largely widespread across the NCA, carbon storage can be increased by increasing organic inputs and expanding the semi-natural grassland.

Opportunities – Soil carbon stores should be conserved and well-managed to maximise storage across the NCA.

Incorporate organic matter, use cover crops and adopt reduced tillage techniques to improve soil structure so that there are benefits for carbon regulation, soil quality and soil erosion.

Encourage reduced fertiliser inputs on cultivated soils by ensuring Government guidelines (NVZ regulations) are followed by farmers and land managers.

Encourage management of hedges and hedgerow trees; fill in gaps.

Encourage woodland creation within valleys or in beech copses where appropriate.

Restore, expand and re-link the wetland habitats to provide further potential carbon stores.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Climate regulation
• Regulating water quality
• Regulating soil quality
• Biodiversity

No information available.

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Chalk aquifers
• Streams and rivers
• Semi-natural habitats
• Cross-field hedgerows (in arable)

State – For information regarding the current state of water quality within this NCA, refer to the Environment Agency (Draft river basin management plan maps).

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Due to the hydraulic connectivity between groundwater/aquifer and watercourses, pollutants can cross-contaminate.

Chalk streams and rivers are important in their biodiversity value and it is essential that good water quality is maintained to support wildlife habitats.

Areas covered by semi-natural habitat in good ecological condition are generally less susceptible to high rates of run-off.

The ecological status of the River Granta and the ecological potential status of the River Cam is poor.

The Anglian River Basin Management Plan identifies that ecological water quality in the rivers is moderate to good, however, the chemical and quantitative status of the groundwater is poor.

Diffuse pollution can be a problem in these areas of light soils.

Water levels in the aquifers are increasingly subject to additional demands from existing and increasing urban populations.

Opportunities – Significant restoration and creation of low-input chalk/ unimproved grasslands within river catchments could help to improve the water quality of the area’s rivers and of the main chalk aquifer.

Promote the development of sustainable drainage systems/ greenspace within urban centres to filter pollutants and protect the underlying aquifer, especially around high potential housing developments around Cambridge, Royston, Arlsey and Baldock.

Explore opportunities for the expansion of semi-natural wetland habitats such as reedbeds adjacent to watercourses to act as nutrient sinks, plus creation of grassland buffer strips running across slopes within catchments to reduce sediment and nutrient run-off into adjacent watercourses, thereby improving the water quality of the rivers.

All of the opportunities described should deliver the Water Framework Directive.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating water quality
• Food provision
• Regulating soil erosion
• Regulation soil quality
• Regulating water flow
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Chalk bedrock
• watercourses
• Wooded valley sides
• Vegetated steep slopes
• Water storage features, in-stream and in the wider flood plain, such as wet meadows and watercress beds

State – The permeable nature of the underlying chalk ensures that there are no large areas at risk from river flooding.

The Great Ouse Catchment Flood Management Plan covers much of the NCA. Groundwater flooding is limited but has occurred in Burwell and Newmarket when there are high groundwater levels in the underlying chalk rock.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Flooding is not a major issue in the NCA partly because of the free-draining chalk characteristics of the area. However the flood meadows in the river valleys of the Cam, Granta and Rhee have a role to play in regulating flow at times of high water levels, which may become more frequent in the future due to climate change. This will help manage flood risk in the NCA and potentially ease flood risk further downstream; the rivers Cam, Granta and Rhee are tributaries feeding into the Great Ouse River in the Fens NCA.

Restoration and creation of new wetland habitats will help to increase the storage of water in the flood plain and re-connect and enhance existing habitats for the benefit of biodiversity and landscape.

Opportunities – Explore and realise opportunities for restoration and creation of favourably-managed wetland habitats along the flood plains of the rivers Cam, Granta and Rhee.

Bring rivers back into continuity with their flood plains where appropriate.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating water flow
• Regulating soil erosion
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Permanent pasture
• Calcareous soils
• Soils under woodland

State – The main soil types include: freely draining lime-rich loamy soils, covering 34 per cent of the NCA; shallow lime-rich soils over chalk (29 per cent); lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage (17 per cent); freely draining slightly acid but base-rich soils (15 per cent).

Nutrient-poor soils, although they are vulnerable to drought, they also have a degree of natural resilience due to their calcareous nature. These soils are valuable for aquifer recharge.

There is a limited area of uncultivated soils under woodland and grassland.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – The freely draining lime-rich loamy soils are typically of moderate depth and droughty while the shallow lime-rich soils over chalk are typically shallow and droughty. The lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage are calcareous soils with some natural resilience and enhanced workability. These characteristics are also seen in the freely draining, slightly acid but base-rich soils, which have some calcareous layers near the surface.

Due to the calcareous nature of loamy and lime-rich soil, they have a degree of natural resilience. These soils are both valuable for aquifer recharge requiring the maintenance of good soil structure to aid water infiltration and the matching of nutrients to needs to prevent pollution of the underlying groundwater.

Soils are at risk from topsoil compaction and poaching.

Opportunities – Conserve and maximise the soil resource, aiming particularly to avoid deterioration of soils with high Agricultural Land Classification grades.

Ensure there is good soil management in woodlands as well as across farmland.

Work with farmers and land managers to seek opportunities to employ best practice methods of minimal tillage, increase soil organic matter and relieve soil compaction, aiding water infiltration. This will also have the benefit of reducing run-off and associated flood risk and aid aquifer recharge.

There is the potential to increase organic matter content by management interventions, including the use of grass leys.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating soil quality
• Regulating water quality
• Regulating water flow
• Food provision
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Soils
• Permanent pasture
• Woodland

State – The majority of soils covering some 98 per cent of this NCA are at risk of erosion.

It is only the small area of loamy and clayey flood plain soils with naturally high groundwater (covering 2 per cent) that has a low risk of soil erosion.

Within the fens soils around Chippenham, sand blows can occur when soils are dry and there is a lack of crop cover.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – The freely draining slightly acid but base-rich soils (covering 15 per cent) and the slightly acid loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage (covering 1 per cent) may be susceptible to capping/slaking, increasing the risk of soil erosion on sloping land where cultivated or bare soil is exposed.

Additionally, in the east of England, sandy variants of the shallow lime-rich soils over chalk are prone to wind erosion.

Equally, the lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage (covering 17 per cent) and the restored soils (covering 2 per cent) are easily compacted, increasing the risk of soil erosion by surface water run-off.

Opportunities – These soils need to be managed carefully to reduce risks of soil erosion.

Incorporate organic matter and adopt reduced tillage in order to minimise run-off and soil erosion.

Encourage longer growing periods between grazing and increase sward diversity in leys to increase root penetration and increased soil stability.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating soil erosion
• Regulating soil quality
• Regulating water quality
• Food provision

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Species-rich grassland, including roadside verges
• Hedgerows
• Woodland edge

State – Habitats such as lowland meadows found in the NCA are likely to support a variety of pollinators and nectar sources.

Nectar sources are also provided by gardens.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – A variety of habitats support a range of plants which provide a sound base for pollination.

Networks of pollinator habitat limit the ability for pollinators to supply this service. Increase in habitats for pollinators such as the creation of areas of semi-natural habitat, hedgerow improvement and more field margins will increase the delivery of this service. These measures would create important corridors and habitat mosaics for pollinator species.

Opportunities – Where crops are grown that require insect pollination, create new pollinator habitats such as chalk grassland.

Encourage the active Bee Keepers’ Association in Cambridge to explain to different communities the links between pollination and bees.

Opportunities to promote wildlife-friendly gardening.

Ensure management of all roadside verges for species-rich grassland.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Pollination
• Food provision
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Habitat mosaic
• Mixed farm systems and crop rotations

State – The landscape can be quite a monoculture of arable production in places.

Concern over non-native species, especially in the chalk streams.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Non-native species such as signal crayfish are threatening native aquatic biodiversity.

Opportunities – Explore opportunities to increase diversity of structure and composition within areas of semi-natural habitat to support a variety of pest regulating species.

Establish pest and diseases management strategies, for watercourses in particular.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Pest regulation
• Pollination
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Rolling chalkland hills
• Historic route ways and ancient earth works
• Beech shelterbelts and copses
• Links to the university city of Cambridge
• Watercourses
• Traditional built environment

State – Sense of place is provided by the low-lying chalk ridge that forms the easterly extension of the Chilterns, creating a visually simple and uninterrupted landscape of smooth, rolling chalkland hills with large regular fields enclosed by low hawthorn hedges, with few trees and straight roads.

The thin, light-coloured soils express the sculptural patterns of landform which are most noticeable when the fields are absent of crops. In contrast the arable-dominated landscape is characteristically punctuated by shelterbelts and copses predominantly of beech, as well as isolated estate farms in gault brick that date from the time of the Enclosure Acts, when the pattern of common fields was largely removed.

Settlement is typically sparse on the steeper slopes with nucleated, inward-looking villages on the dip slopes and lower-lying ground; the local vernacular typically of yellow brick and thatch to the west contrasting with the red brick and flints with clay tile to the east.

Newmarket has been a centre of horse-racing and breeding since the 17th century evolving into a distinctive landscape.

Some historic earthworks and routes are managed well, for example Devil’s Dyke, while others such as Heydon/Bran Ditch have been in-filled and ploughed over.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – Ancient woodlands of ash and oak provide important features along the eastern boundary of the area, while the valleys of the rivers Granta, Rhee and Cam provide a contrasting, small-scale intimacy that is enhanced by their small woods, scattered villages and wetland vegetation.

The prominence of the horse-racing industry at Newmarket is reflected in the manicured appearance of the landscape, while parish churches seldom form major landmarks in the wider landscape, there are notable exceptions such as at Ashwell.

A sense of inspiration includes a Cambridge student’s memories of visits to Wandlebury Ring and the Gog Magog Hills described by E.M. Forster in The Longest Journey.

A sense of inspiration and escapism are also likely to be found within the area’s remoter river valleys and ancient woodlands, as well as with other prominent earthworks such as the Devil’s Dyke and the area’s traditional towns and villages.

Devil’s Dyke has changed in function over time and now provides a viewing platform over the racecourse.

The area continues to provide an inspiration for Cambridge students who attend one of the world’s leading universities.

Wind farm developments are now becoming a more accepted part of the landscape, with the potential to provide wider environmental benefits.

Opportunities – Conserve areas of chalk grassland and optimise management to maintain species diversity.

Work with the horse-racing industry to expand the area of species-rich grassland through appropriate management techniques.

Manage and restore the remnants of ancient woodland.

Expand and re-link the wetland habitats which are characteristic of the river valleys.

Realise the opportunities to conserve the traditional dispersed downland settlement pattern of villages in river valleys and scattered farmsteads.

Promote the use of yellow brick and thatch in the west, and red brick and flints in the east, as traditional building materials.

Through scrub removal, conserve and enhance historic earthworks and routes that illustrate past settlement. This will also provide access and enhance biodiversity corridors, for example Icknield Way and Fleam Dyke.

Appropriately designed and located wind farms can become an accepted feature in the landscape.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Sense of place/inspiration
• Recreation
• Sense of history
• Biodiversity
• Tranquillity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Prehistoric burial mounds
• Medieval moated enclosures and hollow ways
• Iron-age hill forts
• Roman and Saxon dykes
• Traditional buildings and farmsteads

State – The history of the landscape is evident in the landscape-scale earthwork features including the iron-age fort at Wandlebury and the defensive structures of Devil’s Dyke and Fleam Dyke, built by the Saxons to control movement along the Icknield Way between the 5th to 7th centuries AD, as well as in less distinct remains such as prehistoric burial mounds, most noticeable on Therfield Heath near Royston.

In addition, there is a wealth of Romano- British and late iron-age settlement remains (for example at Great Chesterford and Baldock) and sporadic survival of ancient field patterns surrounding some settlements.

Cambridge Past, Present & Future Society (CPPF) is an active campaign group encouraging the public to appreciate local history and preserve the historic landscape for future generations.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – Some historic features, that are not so visually dominant, are perhaps well- understood only by Cambridge academics or keen amateur historians.

Only fragments of the ancient field system survive.

Many heritage assets are fragile and highly susceptible to loss or damage due to direct and indirect impact or inappropriate management.

The range of features present in the area allows for the study of past human activity, informing current land management. Emphasis should be placed on the need to continue to protect and interpret the wealth of extant heritage.

Archaeological features remain vulnerable from scrub encroachment.

Opportunities – Engage with communities and owners of historic features in celebrating and conserving the historic environment, including developing skills around historic environment conservation and traditional building skills and conservation.

Improve visitor access and visitor facilities to key historic features.

Seek opportunities to protect, manage and enhance historic features and their settings in relation to land management or land use changes, manage visitor pressures to prevent soil erosion and littering.

Explore opportunities to enhance the setting, interpretation and legibility of heritage assets.

Working with groups like the CPPF, seek opportunities to celebrate the past, respect the present and seek to influence the future.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Sense of history
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Biodiversity
• Geodiversity
• Recreation

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Beech hangers
• Open scarp landscape
• River valleys

State – Tranquillity has declined significantly in the past 50 years, with the area of the NCA classified as ‘undisturbed’ falling from 79 per cent in the 1960s to 33 per cent in 2007, largely as a result of the traffic routes A11, M11 and A505 that cross the area.

Expansion of urban centres (commuter developments) into rural landscapes.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Although tranquillity has declined it is still an important localised resource in parts of the NCA, and a sense of tranquillity is likely to be particularly associated with the river valleys and traditional villages located away from major transport routes.

Notable trends from the 1960s to 2007 are an increase in disturbed areas with a corollary decrease in tranquillity.

Opportunities – Distinctive elements of the chalk landscape, flowing water and rural scene, should be conserved and managed to improve perceptions of tranquillity, particularly near to settlements.

Traffic-calming measures and support for non-car travel at popular countryside destinations should be encouraged and supported and will improve tranquillity and recreation experiences generally.

Further erosion of tranquillity should be avoided or minimised by ensuring development in areas of high-to- medium tranquillity is appropriate to the setting and incorporates measures such as tree planting and ‘green’ buffers.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Tranquillity
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history
• Recreation

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Public rights of way network
• Icknield Way
• Horse-racing industry focus on Newmarket
• Aviation heritage at Duxford
• Scarp slope
• Open access

State – Recreational opportunities are provided by 848 km of rights of way at a density of 1.01 km per km2, including some of ancient origin, for example, the Icknield Way and Roman Road

Limited open access land, with just 209 ha covering less than 1 per cent of the NCA.

The NCA has two significant visitor attractions, Newmarket Racecourse, and Duxford Airfield in the centre of the NCA which forms part of the Imperial War Museum.

Main beneficiary – National

Analysis – There is currently a high number of car- dependent – visitors with associated impacts upon tranquillity in the area even though sites like Wandlebury Hill Fort are trying to redress this issue with a good off road cycle route from Cambridge.

Newmarket is heavily-visited for its horse-racing and Duxford is a major leisure attraction.

This NCA has limited open access recreation available.

Duxford Airfield site is on the Historic at Risk Register.

Opportunities – Support, create and improve links between recreational assets and settlements, particularly around growth areas.

Liaise with the horse-racing industry on the importance of chalk grassland and to improve the species diversity of the grasslands around Newmarket

Maintain and enhance recreation provision throughout the area by developing and improving rights of way, access to sites and areas of interest, plus raising the profile of the strategic importance of the Icknield Way.

Improve the cycle and bridleway network.

The Imperial War Museum should continue work to maintain the Duxford site as a national resource on aviation history and maintain the functioning historic airbase.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Recreation
• Biodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history
• Tranquillity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Species-rich chalk grassland
• Ancient woodland
• Ancient hedgerows
• Sustainably managed farmland
• Chalk rivers and streams
• Farmland birds
• Arable weeds
• Fenland
• Local Nature Reserves
• Road verges

State – There is over 3,191 ha (4 per cent of the area) of priority habitats in the NCA, which includes 1,317 ha of lowland calcareous grassland (including road verges), 477 ha of coastal and flood plain grazing marsh, 352 ha of wet woodland, 339 ha of lowland meadows, areas of reedbed, fen, purple moor grass and rush pastures, as well as small areas of semi-natural woodland.

The NCA contains two Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) including Chippenham Fen, which covers 117 ha and is also a Ramsar site. It is part of the Fenland Special Area of Conservation for its short species-rich fen meadows on calcareous peaty soils and its tall species-rich calcareous fen community dominated by Saw Sedge. Cambridge milk- parsley grows well on the site.

The NCA is important within the east of England for plants and invertebrates associated with chalk grassland species such as pasque flower, great pignut and chalkhill blue butterfly.

A grey partridge recovery project has been undertaken near Royston (Grey partridge Perdix perdix in the UK: recovery status, set-aside and shooting. Ibis, 152: 530-542, NJ Aebischer and JA Ewald, 2010).

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – Important areas and types of semi-natural habitat are designated, although stretches of chalk rivers and streams are under-represented.

Woodlands and grassland represent core areas of habitat. Chalk streams, road verges and ancient hedgerows function as corridors.

Long-term declining livestock numbers have made conservation of open habitats difficult, giving rise to losses of scrub and woodland. Open habitats are largely conserved only where agri- environment schemes support management.

Conservation of woodland biodiversity relies upon grant schemes. Many woods have long been undermanaged, leading to a decline in woodland birds and butterflies.

Effects of recreation, for example, trampling and littering on sensitive sites, needs to be considered particularly as there may be an increase in visitor numbers.

Chippenham Fen with its chalk springs arising on site allowing the calcareous fen conditions to be created along with frequent ditches, pools and wet depressions making this a really diverse wetland. The peat soils on site vary from centimetres to 2 m thick.

With correct management techniques numbers of grey partridge will increase.

Opportunities – Establish a resilient ecological network.

Promote and enhance management of road verges for high quality grassland habitat.

Identify and address gaps and build core areas, particularly in relation to chalk grassland and flood plain habitats.

Incorporate access improvements to provide for public engagement with nature.

Realise greater recognition of the biodiversity interest of chalk rivers and streams by seeking designations as appropriate and by integrating biodiversity conservation into management of associated historic assets.

If visitor numbers increase on sensitive sites, visitors need to be educated on the value of biodiversity and be encouraged to avoid behaviour that could damage the site.

Conserve important species populations in semi-natural and farmland settings by encouraging wildlife-friendly farming. Where possible, management to conserve biodiversity should seek to assist water and soil conservation, focusing upon areas where risks are highest and the value of the asset greatest, for example, on chalk grassland on steep slopes or wet meadows alongside chalk streams.

Opportunities for Chippenham Fen should be considered by looking at The Fens NCA and the wider fens as a whole.

Known practices to improve farmland bird numbers should be followed, for example providing conservation headlands.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Biodiversity
• Recreation
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history
• Regulating soil quality

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Chalk soils
• Rolling landscape
• Fluvial geomorphology

State – Underlying geology being reflected in traditional building materials, for example ‘clunch’ (building chalk).

There are three geological Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the NCA. There are a further five sites of local interest.

Quarrying of chalk is evident in some places, but the main influence of chalk bedrock is on the limited fertility of the soil and the effect this has on the landscape, both in colour and habitat diversity.

Exposed faces in chalk pits, road cuttings and quarries all have value to specialist mosses and liverworts.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – The geology and processes that underpin the NCA have generated much of the area’s agriculture, land use and now, cultural heritage.

Historic buildings are built with local materials.

Need to manage the bare rock faces of chalk pits so rare flora is not lost as scrub encroaches.

Opportunities – Geo-conservation should be promoted by the local county geology groups, the Chalk East initiative and through the work of geologists at the University of Cambridge.

The relationship between geodiversity in the area and the underlying aquifer, water quality and availability, and soils, presents an opportunity to engage a wide audience in a better understanding of the natural processes that limit available resources.

Conserve Chalk exposures where they are of geodiversity and biodiversity value, for example at Reed, Barkway and Anstey Chalk Pits.

Engaging communities and property owners in celebrating and using local building materials and developing skills in traditional building materials.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Geodiversity
• Regulating water quality
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history
• Biodiversity