80 - The Broads : Analysis: Ecosystem Services

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Cereals
• Livestock grazing
• Market garden crops
• High quality agricultural land
• Soils

State – This is productive agricultural land, with 10 per cent Grade 1, 13 per cent Grade 2 and 55 per cent Grade 3.

Predominantly arable farming and livestock rearing with some dairy farming.

There are no commercial fisheries in the NCA.

Main beneficiary – National

Analysis – The soil quality, water availability and land drainage have supported high levels of agricultural produce in the NCA.

Agriculture is mainly based around large farms producing cereals (36 per cent) and grassland (35 per cent). Some cash root crops are also grown (12 per cent). Livestock rearing is focused on pigs and cattle.

Intensification of agriculture has led to the loss of semi-natural habitats within the farmed environment, especially through drainage of flood plains.

Drainage and intense cultivation of the peat soils has also reduced carbon storage potential.

Climate change impacts may lower rates of rainfall and lead to an increased drought risk, reducing soil fertility and altering the current pattern of food production. This may also increase stresses on other services i.e. water availability, water quality.

Expansion of food production could exert further pressure on the space for semi-natural habitats, water availability and quality, as well as soil quality leading to increased erosion rates and increased diffuse pollution of watercourses.

Further water abstraction may lead to decreased river flows leading to increases in saline intrusion and subsequent damage to freshwater habitats.
Any increased drainage or deep cultivation of peaty soils will reduce their capacity to store carbon.

Prolonged periods of stocking with free-range pigs can result in soil compaction, water logging and soil erosion, as well as the leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus leading to water pollution.

Agriculture is strongly linked to the areas recreational function in terms of the significant role it plays in creating a countryside that residents and visitors wish to explore and enjoy. This supports the economic function of the landscape providing employment and increased demand for local services and products.

Opportunities – There are opportunities through working in partnership with farmers to consider an increased use of crops that have a lower demand for irrigation.

Seek to reduce the demand for water abstraction through creating more on-farm water storage.

Address water quality and conservation of wetland habitats within the farmed environment by adapting cultivation techniques i.e. minimum tillage and an increased use of infield analysis prior to the application of nutrients and minerals to ensure continued ecological diversity is maintained and enhanced.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Food provision
• Water availability
• Regulating water quality
• Regulating soil quality
• Regulating soil erosion
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Biodiversity
• Geodiversity
• Recreation

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Small deciduous woodland, copses and plantations
• Semi-natural wet woodland and carr woodland

State – Only 10 per cent of the NCA is wooded.

There is minimal commercial timber production. The only timber provision is mainly from small deciduous woodland, copses and plantations that accompany settlements and farms.

Most of the woodland is semi- natural fen carr woodland which dominates the wetlands.

There are some small over mature poplar and cricket-bat willow plantations, which have largely proved commercially unviable.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Woodland cover is sparse and confined to small woodlands and plantations.

Further woodland planting in the NCA could increase opportunities for timber provision. There is potential to increase timber provision through bringing unmanaged woodland back under management.

The situation of any new woodland planting would need to be carefully considered to maintain the landscape character. It should avoid the open marshland and wetland sites (except where new wet woodland is appropriate. There are possible opportunities in connection with existing copses, plantations and shelter belts around ‘upland’ farmsteads.

Opportunities – Increase native woodland planting in connection with existing woodland and copses to provide increases in timber and biodiversity, enhancements to the landscape, improve the ecological networks and increase the carbon storage potential.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Timber provision
• Climate regulation
• Biodiversity
• Water availability
• Regulating water quality
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Biomass energy
• Timber provision

• Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –
• The Crag aquifer and Sand and gravel minor aquifer
• Rivers (the main rivers: Yare, Ant, Bure and Waveney)
• Surface waters (broads)

State – Abstraction of water from the underground aquifers from boreholes around the flood plain periphery is a major source of potable and irrigation water.

Surface waters (rivers and broads) are also important water sources for agriculture and settlements.

Over-abstraction of both ground and surface water is a continuing issue for the NCA.

The integrated CAMs status for the River Waveney is now classed as ‘over abstracted’; the Yare is currently ‘over licensed’ and the rivers Bure and Ant have ‘no further water available’.

Main beneficiary – National

Analysis – The groundwater resource of the NCA is predicted to be under pressure (of poor quantitative status) by 2015.

As water supplies from the aquifers decline, low flows are becoming a regular feature and in the future will become a particular concern, (especially to designated wetland sites) resulting in reduced flushing of the system and the occurrence of algal blooms.

Low flows will also negatively impact terrestrial ecology as wetland habitats become dryer and decline in their condition. Food provision will also be impacted as irrigation of crops will need to be reduced.

Over abstraction can lead to impacts on aquifer-fed fen communities, low river flows, and saltwater ingress from the North Sea via the aquifer.

Surface waters are also under significant pressure.

Wetlands can also increase evapotranspiration, interception and infiltration.

Reduced water availability will also impact upon recreation within the Broads as some rivers and broads will become shallower limiting access by boat.

Opportunities – Opportunities exist to improve the sustainable use of water by employing sympathetic land management practices which reduce the demand for crop irrigation (although it is recognised that many land managers already operate using environmentally sensitive practices).

Expansion of water storage capacity on farms to enable farms to reduce the volumes of water abstraction from surface and groundwater sources, while ensuring that new large-scale agricultural features (for example irrigation reservoirs) safeguard the distinctive quality of the local landscape.

Restore and increase areas of semi-natural habitats to increase infiltration such as grassland on the valley sides and wet grassland in the valley bottoms.

There is an opportunity to continue to use agri-environment schemes to recreate low- input flood plain grazing marsh grassland benefiting landscape, habitat and aquifer re-charge, water quality, soil erosion as well as limiting flood risk.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Water availability
• Biodiversity
• Geodiversity
• Regulating water flow
• Regulating water quality
• Climate regulation
• Food provision

No information available.

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Woodland

State – Woodland cover is low (10 per cent) and the creation of new large plantations is unlikely.

There are some small deciduous woodland, copses and plantations in the upper reaches of the river valleys.

There are opportunities for both short rotation coppice (medium potential yields) and Miscanthus (high potential yields), but currently these are not planted in the NCA.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – There is some capacity for appropriately-scaled heat production existing in privately-owned woodland.

Potential miscanthus and short rotation coppice (SRC) yields are medium and the potential for miscanthus yield is classed as high although the impact of biomass on the historic environment can be detrimental and any planting needs to be carefully sited. This is particularly the case with additional enclosure of the characteristic open landscape on the lower valley floors and in the flood plain, which are largely un-wooded.

Currently standing biomass includes commercial reedbeds and sedgebeds, managed to provide roofing materials. Maintaining this traditional use, bringing neglected areas under management and developing new uses for these natural biomass materials, will in turn benefit other ecosystem services (for example biodiversity, climate regulation, sense of place).

Opportunities – There are possible valley-side opportunities for biomass production through the planting of miscanthus or SRC where the landscape impact is less intrusive than on the open flood plain.

There is scope to use locally-sourced wood from existing under-managed woodland in order to provide heat from small and medium-sized boilers. Initiatives such as Woodfuel East, can aim to build capacity for renewable energy strengthening the link ‘from forest to fire’.

There are opportunities for using the woodland resource sensitively by thinning or coppicing and providing woodland owners with diversified income streams; this will reduce the NCA’s carbon footprint and improve the small number of existing woodland habitats for future generations.

In high potential yield areas planting of miscanthus can be targeted to soften the edges of new development or where it may help alleviate flood risk while avoiding impacts on the provision of other services.

Continuing to bring derelict reedbeds and sedgebeds into regular management and promotion of the use of (for example fen litter for biomass and new commercial uses for hay and litter, reed and sedge faggots (bundles of reed/sedge used for river bank stabilisation).

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Biomass energy
• Climate regulation
• Regulating water flow
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Biodiversity
• Regulating soil erosion

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Soils
• Grazing marsh
• Wetlands
• Semi-natural vegetation
• Reedbeds
• Mudflats/salt marsh
• Woodland
• Hedgerows

State – The carbon content of soils in this NCA varies; they range from areas with low carbon content (0-5 per
cent) associated with minerals soils to areas with higher content (5-50 per cent).

High carbon soils are associated with the extensive areas of fen peat soils, the undisturbed organic soils of the coastal and flood plain grazing marsh and the loamy and sandy soils with naturally high groundwater and a peaty surface.

Higher carbon levels may also be associated with the soils of the coastal flats where some variants may have organic-rich topsoils.

Soil carbon will also be higher in areas of coastal and flood plain grazing marsh (11, 563 ha), reedbeds (6,277 ha), fens (4,166 ha) as well as areas of wet woodland.

Main beneficiary – National

Analysis – Research carried out by The University of East Anglia for the Broads Authority estimated that nearly 40 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent are sequestered in the NCA, of which a large proportion is stored in the fen peats.

The ability of the fen peat to continue to store carbon and to lock up carbon in future depends upon the presence of appropriate vegetation cover (for example wet woodland, sedge or reed) and upon the hydrology and water table being at the right level (sufficiently high) so that the surface remains wet to assist peat formation to take place. Previously stored carbon in the peat-lands can also be released due to oxidation and erosion so that peat- land becomes a net source of green house gases rather than a sink. In all cases these peaty and organic-rich topsoils are a vital resource in climate regulation and the integrity of these should be retained.

The standing biomass, which includes winter-green species such as sedge and the woodland itself, lock up carbon over a shorter timescale. A significant area of the mid flood plain of the northern broads and some of the flood plain ronds of the southern broads system, are occupied by commercial reedbeds and sedgebeds, some of which are managed to provide traditional thatching materials. Maintaining this traditional use and developing new uses for these natural materials will help to maintain and potentially increase the area of reed and sedge, increasing their capacity to store carbon.

In agricultural areas carbon sequestration and storage can be increased by management that reduces the frequency of cultivation as well as by the type of cultivation, for example, shallow ploughing. The addition of organic matter to enhance soil structure will also increase carbon storage and provide increased benefits for biodiversity.

Soils cultivated for arable crops in the marshland currently provide reduced carbon sequestration partly due to their regular cultivation and drainage. Reducing drainage and re-establishing permanent pasture on the alluvial soils, would increase their capacity to store carbon.

Woodlands, particularly wet woodlands and those managed by coppicing, provide carbon sequestration. Woodlands also provide benefits for biodiversity, especially when part of a broader habitat network. Any new planting would need to be sensitively located to maintain landscape character. Existing copses, plantations and shelter belts could be extended.

Opportunities – Reduce frequency of cultivation and seek opportunities to add organic matter to the soils for example through use of green manure crops within rotations and increase the coverage of uncultivated field margins.

Opportunities exist to promote initiatives which facilitate re-wetting the flood plain, to reactivate peat formation and promote carbon sequestration.

Seek opportunities to restore and expand semi-natural habitats (for example wet woodland, sedge or reed) and bring them under sympathetic management to increase carbon storage. In the case of reed and sedge there is the opportunity to increase sympathetic commercial management for renewable building materials.

Conserve and expand areas of flood plain grazing marsh and wetland and grassland habitats which will benefit wildlife and increase the carbon storage potential of the flood plain.

Seek opportunities to restore and expand native broadleaved woodland where appropriate and bring back into management under-managed woodland to increase carbon storage.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Climate regulation
• Biodiversity
• Geodiversity
• Water availability
• Regulating water quality
• Biomass energy
• Regulating soil erosion
• Regulating soil quality

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Tidal stretches of all the main rivers
• Natural sand dune defences
• Beaches
• Coastal sand dunes
• Soft cliffs
• Intertidal mudflats and coastal salt marsh
• Beach and offshore manmade defence structures
• Geomorphology and operation of active processes

State – There is a risk of tidal flooding when high tide levels combine with storm surges as the hinterland is mostly at or below sea level.

The natural dune flood defences between Eccles and Winterton- on-Sea protect the low-lying hinterland from coastal flooding although the area between Happisburgh and Winterton has suffered a series of catastrophic floods over several centuries through the breaching of the natural defences. Floods in 1287 reached Hickling. In 1604 most of Eccles village was washed away and in more recent times the dunes were breached at Horsey in 1938 and Sea Pauling in 1953.

The dunes are themselves now pinned by artificial offshore reefs, onshore groynes, beach nourishment, revetments and a concrete wave return wall and apron.

Flood defences are currently being improved along the River Yare (The Broadland River Catchment Flood Management Plan Summary Report, Environment Agency, 2009).

Currently, the Environment Agency flood risk map indicates that for the majority of the NCA the risk of flooding is high (an annual probability of flooding of 0.5 per cent or greater from the sea).

The north-western part of the coastline (Happisburgh to Eccles) is elevated with soft low elevation, clay cliffs. Sections of these cliffs are highly subject to coastal erosion.

The stretch of coast between Eccles and Winterton on Sea is much flatter and is fronted by extensive dunes and broad sandy beaches. This section of the coast is liable to beach loss and erosion and flooding as the land behind the coastal strip is at or below sea level.

Climate change will likely increase both sea levels and storm surge heights over the coming decades leading to further erosion and accelerating change on some reaches of unprotected coastline.

The North-east Norfolk Shoreline Management Plan currently proposes holding the current line for up to 50 years, with a period beyond to see if the policy is still appropriate.

Main beneficiary – Local/Regional

Analysis – Sea level rise and climate trends show that the low- lying landscape of the Broads is at risk from tidal flooding in the event of flood defence failure.

Wetlands and coastal habitats offer essential buffers to safeguard human life and property during extreme flooding events that are predicted to increase as a consequence of climate change. Natural defences to coastal flooding are an essential and cost-effective way of safeguarding life and property in the face of substantial, medium-term threats.

Wetlands contribute significantly to the regulation of river flooding and the maintenance of water quality. Wetlands are also characteristic of the area and consequently contribute significantly to the distinctive landscape and sense of place. Grazing marshes support traditional livestock enterprises, producing high value products as well as supporting biodiversity, employment and rural income.

The current policy is to retain robust coastal defences (the natural dune defences and manmade defence structures) along the Eccles to Winterton frontage that hold the current line, and actively work alongside the Broadland Flood Alleviation Project to improve and maintain river flood protection. At the same time effort must be put into developing strategies for adaptation, as the technical and financial and environmental challenges of maintaining those defences into the future will continue to increase.

This should be in line with guidelines contained in the Shoreline Management Plan which proposes holding the current line for ~50 years with a review of that policy longer term.

Eastern England has been gradually sinking since the last glacial period ended about 11,000 years ago (isostatic readjustment), and as a result of changing climate rising sea levels will only increasing pressure on existing defences, and in the long term could lead to a loss of beaches and sand dunes, and have impacts on other parts of the coast, where the line of defence is held. However a policy of not defending will have more immediate impacts on local communities and the local economy.

As well as the risks of erosion of the soft cliffs in the northern part of the coastal area, there are large areas where coastal flooding could occur in the absence of a sea wall and a healthy, naturally functioning dune system – between Eccles and Winterton.

The Shoreline Management Plan details how hard defence of existing positions will prevent the natural movement of sediment, and structures will become increasingly difficult to maintain or justify over time, as the coastal system retreats. This whole length of coast is at least partly reliant upon sediment eroded from the cliffs of North Norfolk for beaches to provide natural defence, although in recent years this has been supplemented through recharging beaches along the Eccles-Waxham frontage, to address any shortfall in material supply (Kelling to Lowestoft Ness Shoreline Management Plan First Review Non Technical Summary, North Norfolk District Council et al, 2011).

To mitigate the impacts and help adapt to the impacts of coastal change, particularly on coastal communities; social adaptation measures may include limited works to existing defences to slow erosion and delay the impacts of change.

Opportunities – Seek opportunities to expand inter-tidal habitats along the shores of Breydon Water and the tidal rivers near to the coast to offset coastal squeeze.

Protect the coastal dune system from damage resulting from recreational pressure by for examples; the development of a strategy for public access management.

There are opportunities to develop a more natural coastal hinterland through the conversion of areas of arable and grazing marsh to fen, open water and salt marsh and expanding traditional coastal grazing management in order to create habitats to buffer against coastal flooding while benefitting wildlife.

The development of strategies to mitigate some of the impacts of saltwater incursion (for example through the creation of washlands and new wetlands to moderate flooding of existing wildlife sites).

Ensure flood risk management evolves to provide solutions that result in the protection and retention of the special assets of the Broads including its history and biodiversity as part of meeting society’s needs.

To interpret the importance of the Broads geodiversity in understanding past and future environmental responses to climate change.

Reflecting the priorities of the Shoreline Management Plan, promote the natural adaptation and regeneration of coastal habitats as sea levels rise (Kelling to Lowestoft Ness Shoreline Management Plan First Review Non Technical Summary, 2011, North Norfolk District Council et al.).

Maximise the ability of natural habitats along the coast to absorb wave energy and provide soft defences against coastal storm erosion.

Ensure that realignments are managed to enable inter-tidal habitats to develop and expand effectively.

Monitor coastal processes and work with partners to find solutions that enable dynamic coastal processes to continue.

Seek opportunities for intertidal habitats to expand and the creation of compensation habitats (freshwater habitats and brackish waterbodies) to mitigate those lost through rising sea levels.

If and where existing flood defences are reinforced, work with partners to ensure that there are no adverse impacts on features of biological and historic interest, ensuring that the open character of the area, the long views and access to the shoreline is maintained.

Seek to ensure that ancient dune systems are not damaged by recreational use leading to fragmentation and erosion.

Work closely with partners and local communities in the identification and development of social mitigation measures such as limited works to existing defences to slow erosion.

Seek solutions that allow the needs of wildlife and people to go forward hand in hand.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating coastal flooding and erosion
• Water availability
• Regulating water flow
• Climate regulation
• Biodiversity
• Geodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Wetlands
• Rivers
• Aquifers
• Geomorphology and the operation of active processes

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 – Regional

Analysis – Watercourses suffer from high nitrate and phosphate levels, associated with the discharge from sewage treatment works, agricultural practices, industrial processes, surface water drains and pleasure boats. The recent installation of phosphate stripping equipment on the main Sewage Treatment Works is improving water quality.

The implementation of actions listed in Diffuse Water Pollution Plans for all the main catchments will also help improve water quality by helping to reduce diffuse pollution.

Improvement can, however, be compromised by low flows during prolonged periods of low precipitation (winter and summer) which are predicted to increase as a consequence of climate change.

In CSF priority catchments watercourses suffer from high rates of nitrate and phosphate pollution associated with agriculture which may be associated with excess farmyard manure and slurry applications, nutrient leaching, inefficient crop nutrient management and soil erosion. There is also some localised diffuse pollution from pesticides and soil erosion leading to sedimentation of watercourses.

There are opportunities on agricultural land through Countryside Stewardship and Catchment Sensitive Farming measures to help improve water quality.

Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMPs) and Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) may result in some improvements in river valley, coastal and estuarine waterbodies helping to reduce saline incursion.

Opportunities – There are opportunities through working in partnership with farmers to encourage different remedies to improve water quality such as by reducing water abstraction to increase flow rates in rivers and limit saline incursion.

Encourage agricultural practices and the uptake of agri-environment options (for example grassland margins on slopes) to minimise soil erosion from land at risk of generating diffuse pollution in catchments such as the Bure, Ant and Muckfleet, Yare, Waveney and Wensum.

Create buffer areas between nutrient input and sensitive riparian habitats, areas high in biodiversity and watercourses.

Ensure the use of fertiliser and pesticide is more informed and associated with good in-field analysis to ensure additional inputs are more closely married to the requirements of individual crops to reduce diffuse pollution.

Ensure continued improvement is made to waste water treatment works, to improve the quality of water being returned to the system.

Ensure continued efforts are made to ensure that all pleasure boats using the water ways do not impact upon the quality of the water through the discharge of effluents and engine oil/fuel.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

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

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Inflowing rivers
• Breydon Water
• Broads
• Wetland habitats
• Wet woodland

State – Fluvial flood risk in this NCA is associated with the open, flat flood plain that the major river systems of the Yare, Ant, Bure and Waveney flow into from the higher ground of surrounding NCAs which they drain (NCAs 78,79,83,84).

Some land is at or below sea-level. Here agricultural land and grazing marsh is maintained by drainage pumps. These high levels of drainage have increased the pressure on the Broads river system, leading to a long history of flooding; particularly notable events occurred in 1878 and 1912. More recently, river flooding occurred across much of the NCA in 1993.

The lower stretches of the rivers are constrained between flood banks to prevent flooding of adjacent land.

Currently, the Environment Agency flood risk map indicates that for the majority of the NCA the risk of flooding is high (an annual probability of flooding of 1 per cent or greater from rivers ( Broadland Rivers Catchment Flood Management Plan Summary Report December 2009).

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – The majority of the NCA is at risk from fluvial flooding, exacerbated by combinations of the extensive catchments of the rivers which extend into neighbouring NCAs draining much of Norfolk and Suffolk, a low- lying level flood plain at or below sea level, high tides and potential storm surges combined with rising sea levels.

Flooding is a natural process within the Broads flood plain. It can disrupt wildlife habitats and where development has occurred within the flood plain it can cause significant damage.

Subsequently flood risk is a major constraint on sustainable development in the Broads and on its social and economic viability.

Rivers can become heightened for a number of reasons including: i) rivers unable to flow freely to the sea at high tide. This so called ‘tide locking’ has the potential to occur at Norwich (River Wensum) and at Hoveton and Horning (River Bure); ii) the overwhelming of pumping stations (notably at Aylsham, Martham, Thurne, Caister, Winterton and Stokesby); and finally iii) the breaching/failing of river embankments (for example. at Norwich and Great Yarmouth).

The lower reaches of rivers rely on hard engineering solutions (embankments) which limit flood storage capacity in the event of a major fluvial or sea surge event. Alternative, ‘softer’, solutions (for example flood meadow wet grassland) could increase the natural storage of water, restore river channels, watermeadows and the natural flood plain, improve the landscape, biodiversity and recreation opportunities while simultaneously protecting riverside and flood plain property from flood damage.

The middle reaches and upper flood plains can help alleviate flooding in the future if managed appropriately (for example the middle river reaches of five key rivers – Ant, Bure, Thurne, Yare and Waveney are generally unembanked and the broads, fen and wet woodland in the natural flood plain provide significant flood storage capacity following heavy rainfall).

Increasing the flood storage capacity by enhancing and extending these features and through the creation of new washlands will further help to alleviate flooding.

Increasing water levels and intermittent flooding should be actively managed to mitigate against the potential damage this could cause to features within designated Special Areas of Conservation.

Opportunities – There are opportunities for providing a degree of flood resilience through the creation of flood plains and washlands, ideally located through consultation with stakeholders impacted by floods. Optimise design and implementation of future flood storage areas to create new wetland habitats, such as flood plain grazing marsh, creating links with existing semi-natural habitats.

There are opportunities to adopt alternative, ‘softer’, solutions to flood prevention through restoring previously engineered river channels to their natural profiles (for example through bank setback and the removal of pilings) allowing reinstatement of natural marginal vegetation to attenuate flows.

Adopt strategic approaches to increasing the capacity of catchments to retain water, including addressing river management upstream to reduce impacts on landscapes downstream.

Manage the network of ditches and drains to ensure that while operating effectively to drain land where required, they also make a positive contribution to the landscape and to biodiversity, reducing sediment transfer rates into major river systems and acting as links between other semi-natural habitats.

Protect and manage the fen habitat resource and plan for further sustainable restoration work through the adaptive management of the adjacent flood plain to increase its contribution to flood alleviation.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Water availability
• Regulating soil quality
• Regulating soil erosion
• Biodiversity
• Geodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Moderately fertile to highly fertile soils

State – There are 8 main soilscape types in this NCA:

• Loamy and clayey soils of coastal flats with naturally high groundwater, covering 29 per cent of the NCA;
• Freely draining slightly acid loamy soils (29 per cent);
• Fen peat soils (17 per cent);
• Slightly acid loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage (7 per cent);
• Freely draining slightly acid sandy soils (5 per cent);
• Slowly permeable seasonally wet acid loamy and clayey soils (4 per cent);
• Loamy and sandy soils with naturally high groundwater and a peaty surface (3 per cent); and
• Lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage (1 per cent).

These soils are moderately fertile and where sufficiently well-drained, support arable farming and grazing.

In the south the uplands have poor-draining stagnogley soils, while the small valleys in this area contain a mixture of fertile sandy loam soils and poor gravel soils. The valley margins comprise acid loamy and clayey soils of moderate-high fertility.

The valley margins in the north of the NCA have freely draining slightly acid loamy soils of low fertility.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – The most fertile soils are the rich loams present on the higher ground in the north of the NCA that support high value agricultural production.

The loamy and clayey soils of coastal flats have a naturally high groundwater, are moderately fertile and a have a high agricultural potential but this is dependent on the continued ability to pump drain and protect the soils from sea flooding/saline intrusion (locally some soils are saline and at risk of structural damage where drained).

The fen peat soils (17 per cent) are at high risk of loss of peat through oxidation, water and windblown erosion, with peaty layers reducing long term and becoming thinner over underlying mineral layers (in some locations mineral material is within plough depth). This can reduced the long term agricultural value of the land in addition to reducing its ability to store carbon.

The freely draining slightly acid loamy soils have potential for increased organic matter levels through management interventions. They may be valuable for recharge of the Crag aquifer requiring the maintenance of good soil structure to aid water infiltration and the matching of nutrients to needs to prevent pollution of groundwaters.

Where there is a high silt/fine sand content compaction and / or capping may be an issue. This may be reduced by increasing soil organic matter content.

Where peaty soils are located over marine alluvium, drained soils may be extremely acid (pyritic) impacting on land use and management while, where drained, sporadic iron rich layers (dummy layers) are difficult to wet.

Deep drainage of the flood plain soils can result in high acidity and sulphate levels, peat shrinkage and changes in soil structure.

Opportunities – In those areas with high groundwater, seek opportunities to revert cultivated land back to semi-natural habitat.

Seek ways of reducing demand for water abstraction by selecting crops and / or increasing storage of water on farms, to reduce the degree of saline intrusion and the damage this can cause in terms of soil quality.

Adopt cultivation practices that increase organic content of soils, such as introducing fallow into rotations, over-winter stubbles, direct drill and grass leys.

Avoid overstocking or using machinery where and when it would lead to the compaction of vulnerable soils.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

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

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Moderately fertile to highly fertile soils

State – The majority of the NCAs soils are freely draining soils which include the slightly acid loamy soils (covering 29 per cent of the NCA) and the slightly acid sandy soils (covering 5 per cent).

The peaty soils include the fen peat soils (17 per cent of the NCA) and the loamy and sandy soils with naturally high groundwater and a peaty surface (covering 3 per cent).

Soils with impeded drainage cover 8 per cent of the NCA.

The loamy and clayey soils of coastal flats and the wet acid loamy and clayey soils cover 33 per cent of the NCA.

Three river catchments (the rivers Bure, Ant and Muckfleet, Yare and Waveney) have been prioritised by the England Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative (ECFSDI) in order to reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment. Accelerated soil erosion, whereby more soil is removed than can be created, has been identified as an issue within the Yare and Waveney catchments.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – Free draining, coarse textured variant soils are prone to erosion (both wind and rain) on moderately or steeply sloping ground where cultivated land is left bare especially in spring. Erosion of these soils is exacerbated where organic matter levels are low after continuous arable cultivation or where soils are compacted.

The undisturbed peaty soils have good integrity and infiltration (the ability to soak up water) and therefore when wet and supporting vegetation they are at low risk from water erosion (except where cultivated land is susceptible to flooding). These soils do have a high risk of wind erosion (blowing) especially where spring sown crops are grown and when the soils have become dry. Drainage and cultivation is leading to ongoing loss (wastage) of peat through shrinkage and oxidation. Minimum cultivation and the retention of soil cover and organic content can prevent this.

Soils with impeded drainage are easily compacted if accessed when wet and may be prone to capping / slaking, increasing the risks of soil erosion by surface water run-off, especially on steeper slopes. Ensuring that these soils are not compacted by livestock, farm machinery and recreational access to limit rates of erosion.

The loamy and clayey soils of coastal flats and the wet acid loamy and clayey soils are at low risk of soil erosion although they are increasingly under threat from sea level rise.

The impact of climate change (particularly increased rainfall intensity on bare arable soils and lengthy water-logging of grassland), will increase the potential for soil damage.

Livestock can cause significant soil erosion along the edges of dykes with a subsequent decline in water quality.

On the Broads themselves, the wash from water-borne traffic and with motor powered vessels the direct cutting action of engine’s propellers increases soil erosion along the banks. Increasing boat numbers (from 4,789 in 1975 to 12,459 in 2012) have exacerbated this erosion, although the last decade has actually seen a slight decline in boat traffic, reducing this threat (12,923 in 2003 to 12,459 in 2012).

Speed limits for water-borne craft are also used along sections of rivers and across broads to help limit bank erosion.

Opportunities – Replant hedgerow boundaries where appropriate to protect free draining soils from wind erosion.

Ensure that on peaty soils agricultural practices encourage minimum cultivation and avoid leaving surfaces exposed, for example by introducing fallow into rotations, overwintering stubble, or reversion to permanent grassland.

Encourage agricultural practices that retain cover and build up organic matter especially on free draining soils.

Ensure that soils with impeded drainage are not compacted by ensuring low rates of stocking where grazing takes place or by encouraging conversion to semi-natural habitat.

Maintain and conserve salt marsh and other inter-tidal habitats to create a buffer between the sea and agricultural land, providing a cost effective defence against soil erosion in the coastal flood plain.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

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

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Areas of semi- natural habitat, hedgerows, wet grassland, grass margins, salt marsh, fen, reedbed, woodland

State – The semi-natural habitats in the area (reedbeds 6,277 ha, fens 4,166 ha) support a variety of pollinators which are an essential component of the ecology and to agricultural production in the NCA.

Interstitial habitats (such as the edges of farm tracks and ditches and dykes) that remain in the spaces between crops are also key sources of both pollen and nectar for insects that pollinate commercial arable crops such as rape.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Pollinating insects are generally supported by a range of semi-natural habitats, in particular species rich grasslands.

Good networks of pollinator habitat assist the ability for pollinators to supply this service aiding food production, particularly in the upper and middle reaches of the river valleys. Networks are more limited across the open marshland and within core the arable areas on the valley tops particularly in the north of the NCA. Increases in habitat for pollinators such as creation of areas of semi-natural habitat, hedgerow improvement and increases in field margins will increase the delivery of this service. These measures would create important corridors and habitat mosaics for pollinator species. A strong pollinator population supports production of a wider variety of food products and supports food production in the future.

Opportunities – There are opportunities to protect and extend the semi-natural habitat mosaics, particularly for wet grassland and fen species that provide early and late nectar sources for native pollinators that in turn will pollinate commercial food crops and so will benefit food provision.

Work with local land managers to protect areas of salt marsh and other semi-natural habitats, buffering existent habitats where this may be possible.

There are opportunities to increase pollen and nectar resources in arable areas through the creation of (ideally species-rich), grass margins and bespoke pollen and nectar strips creating and connecting links with other semi-natural habitats.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Pollination
• Biodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Food provision

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Areas of semi-natural habitat/wet grassland, fen, hedgerows/grass margins

State – The habitats in the area support a variety of species, such as beetles, which can regulate the populations of pests such as aphids.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Interstitial habitats provide important overwintering habitats for beneficial predatory invertebrates (for example ground and rove beetles) that feed on pests. Integrated pest management approaches may in some cases remove the requirement for chemical intervention, although evidence of efficiency is patchy. Financial support for farmers channelled through agri-environment schemes (for example Countryside Stewardship) can assist with increasing the network of these habitats in arable areas.

Opportunities – A stronger and wider network of semi-natural habitats could afford benefits for pest regulation, as well as pollination and biodiversity.

Take opportunities to increase and manage appropriately semi-natural habitats. Seek opportunities to increase diversity of structure and composition within areas of semi-natural habitat to support a variety of pest regulating species.

Seek opportunities to increase field margins, species rich hedgerows and beetle banks to encourage a network of habitats for pest regulating species close to areas of agricultural production.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Pest regulation
• Pollination
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• A landscape of varying scales – closed and intimate in the upper valleys and open and large across the drained marshes
• A low-lying farmed landscape with large areas of semi- natural wetland habitat
• An extensive network of rivers, broads, ditches and dykes
• Variation introduced by slight changes in elevation on the valley sides
• Expansive views, big skies
• Quiet rural areas
• Remote locations
• Undeveloped coastline (apart from artificial sea defence structures) with long views

State – The sense of place is created by the area’s four distinct character zones: the coast, the marshland, the river valleys and broads and the valley tops; thus reflecting the underlying geodiversity.

The low-lying river valleys, broads and marshland define the character of the area, consisting predominantly of a contrast between large, open, grazing marshes and low-lying wetland which is made up of an intricate mix of broads, rivers and waterways, reed beds, fen and wet woodland.

In the upper reaches of the river valleys, deciduous woodland, copses and hedgerows are present.

The open coast consists of remote golden sand and shingle beaches, vegetated dunes, crumbling cliffs of Quaternary deposits, salt marsh and mudflats maintained by dynamic processes.

The wetlands are rich in biodiversity and support internationally important populations of breeding and wintering birds, while other assets that create a sense of local distinctiveness and contribute to the local character.

Features include embanked rivers, traditional wind pumps, marsh cottages, agricultural buildings, boatyards and boatsheds, historic craft, bridges, staithes and dark, dense, flat water reed thatch on traditional buildings.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – A very strong sense of place is provided by the historic landscape character and the interconnected network of rich biodiversity and habitats which are an important component of the local identity. As a result of 20th-century tourism, these characteristics of the Broads provide the popular perception of the quintessential Norfolk landscape.

The open marshland, the coast and some of the more hidden broads can also provide inspiring experiences because of their sense of remoteness and ‘wildness’.

Opportunities – There are opportunities to protect the rural mosaic of pastoral landscapes and habitats characteristic of the Broads that are essential for the feelings of space and the inspiration.

Retain the contrasts with the local differences in landscape character, between the coast, open marshes, river valleys and broads and uplands.

New and redevelopments should be sympathetic to the historic settlement patterns and where possible the materials used should aim to reflect or compliment the traditional settlement character.

Retain long views and the experience of big skies.

Seek to ensure that the network of ditches and dykes are managed so that they contribute visually to the landscape, by encouraging emergent vegetation, and thus also provide effective linking habitats with diverse vegetation and wildlife.

Protect and enhance the biodiversity interest of the Broads, so that more people can enjoy the rich ecology and experience the sights and sounds of overwintering birds, booming bitterns, marsh harriers, swallowtail butterflies, coastal little terns and common and grey seals, together with all the plant and animal communities associated with the semi-natural habitats.

Improve understanding of the landscape and its functions including its wildlife value and geomorphological processes especially the active coastal processes.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Sense of place/inspiration
• Sense of history
• Food provision
• Biodiversity
• Recreation
• Tranquillity
• Geodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Broads, embanked rivers, wind pumps, marsh cottages, traditional agricultural buildings, drainage pumps, boats, boatyards and boatsheds, historic craft, bridges and staithes
• Archaeology
• Palaeoecology
• Geology

State – The varied historic features within the NCA are an important part of its character.

Breydon water and the ruins of Burgh Castle provide a sense of history of the once extensive Great Estuary that covered the lower flood plain. The visible courses of ancient estuarine salt marsh creeks also provide a sense of the past landscape.

A sense of history is revealed through the broads themselves which are flooded peat pits excavated for fuel during the middle ages

The Bure Valley’s Saxo-Norman churches reflect the manorial structure of the middle ages, serving as a reminder of the area’s populous past.

Traditional settlement patterns in the area have been dictated largely by historic social and economic need, with groupings round a parish staithe, riverside common, ferry or bridge.

The waterways and river network were once important communication and trading routes with wherries that used to export goods to the port of Great Yarmouth.

Wherries, although now used for pleasure, can still be seen sailing on the rivers, providing vivid connections to the areas trading past.

A sense of history is revealed with the sight of historic sailing craft, reed thatched boat sheds and boatyards, which portray the history of Broadland recreation.

There are also many features associated with the reclamation and control of the drainage of the wetlands such as; ditches and dykes, raised flood banks, bridges, wind pumps (for example the four- storey high, red brick Horsey Windpump) as well as later diesel and electric pump stations.

There are nearly 1,000 sites worthy of inclusion on the Historic Environment Record, recognising the special architectural and historic interest of the area. These include traditional agricultural buildings; including the 16th century thatched Great Barn at Waxham, Norfolk’s longest barn.

The coastline with its isolated settlements on top of crumbling cliffs and behind windswept dunes, which although tranquil reveal a history of storms, flooding, smuggling and shipwrecks.

The 6 registered Parks and gardens provide a vivid sense of history (for example Somerleyton Hall with its garden features designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, Langley Park, Beeston Hall and Crown Point).

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Maintaining, conserving and enhancing the sense of history, through promoting the links between historical sites, archaeological evidence of human activity and the biological interest of the area, would achieve a wider understanding of the importance of the NCA. Increased opportunities to interact with history, may have potential to increase the service. This may lead to increased recreation and tourism, although management would be needed to ensure this is sustainable and does not have a negative impact on the assets themselves. The reinforcement of the sense of history of the area could contribute strongly to sense of place in the landscape.

Loss of traditional village patterns through new infill development and the use of non traditional building materials in renovation work have been seen across the NCA which leads to a gradual erosion of historical assets and of the quality and distinctiveness of the built environment.

Opportunities – There are opportunities to conserve, enhance and promote the historic evidence of past human settlement, historic landscapes and their features, such as parkland where they are assessed as a priority in the area and wildlife habitats, particularly where these include historic drainage networks (for example former creek patterns, marsh dykes), woodland and wetland.

Balance the need to protect the historic environment with aspirations for environmental enhancement condition while increasing the opportunities for sustainable recreation and tourism.

Protect, maintain and restore historic buildings that are assessed as a priority in the region.

Provide a sense of history through promotion of the archaeological record, as well as the value of geological sites in preserving a record of past landscape and climate change and evidence for early human occupation of the landscape. This will provide insights into (and opportunities for learning about) techniques of sustainable resource use and habitat management used in the past.

Use local evidence of past climate change (such as the pollen record) to reconstruct past environments and gain insights into the potential impacts of future climate change on the landscape.

Increase the sense of history by protecting the character and historic resource of the registered parks and gardens for the cultural history they contribute to the landscape character of the Broads.

Where new developments are proposed there are opportunities to strength the historic settlement patterns across the NCA as a whole. Where the restoration of historic features is proposed encourage the use of local materials and the respect for local vernacular styles.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

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

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Geomorphology
• Topography
• Some of the broads
• Open marshes
• River valleys (Bure and Yare)
• Coast

State – 57 per cent of the NCA is classified as undisturbed.

Characteristics of the landscape that are particularly important in conveying a sense of tranquillity are the marshes of the Halvergate triangle, the coast (Happisburgh to Winterton) and through the river valleys of the Bure and Yare.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Tranquil areas have fallen sharply from 89 per cent in the 1960s to 57 per cent in 2007. This is primarily due to increases in traffic.

Areas of disturbance are associated with the urban areas of Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Caister-on-Sea and Norwich (in adjacent NCAs) together with the smaller rural towns such as Beccles and Bungay and the main road corridors linking these centres.

Levels of disturbance activity vary widely between one area and another, from the bustling social and boating environment of Wroxham to the low-key tranquillity and wildness of the Waveney and Upper Thurne Valleys and the coast and marshes. The richness of wildlife and limited settlement lends a stark, remote, wilderness quality to these areas.

Longer term, the decline in tranquillity is likely to continue.

Traffic levels are projected to increase by 30 per cent by 2015 and development close to the main centres of population (Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Acle) will have a detrimental impact.

Opportunities – Ensure that remote broads, marshes and coastline continue to provide a significant tranquillity resource offering silence and feelings of escapism, especially in winter.

Manage wild and remote areas and protect from further intrusion and development, including unnecessary night lighting to preserve tranquillity so that they continue to provide solitude and inspirational views.

Increasing tranquillity by conserving and extending areas of semi-natural habitat, along with extending these habitats where possible will also provide benefits for biodiversity.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

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

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Rivers and broads
• Coast
• Public rights of way network
• National Trails
• Local Nature Reserves
• National Nature Reserves
• Wildlife

State – Diverse visitors include ramblers, artists, anglers, bird-watchers, ecotourists, boaters and other visitors. The Broads and the seven navigable rivers have been a boating holiday destination and an important centre for racing yachts since the late 19th century. The Broads remain a popular UK holiday destination worth £400m p.a. to the local economy.

Increasing numbers of visitors now engage in ecotourism rather than the more traditional ‘broads boating holiday’ and are drawn by the diverse wetland avifauna and scenic value of the flood plains.

Rights of way total 565 km (1km/ km2) with some open access (311 ha). Footpaths typically follow the flood banks but include access between rivers and ‘upland’ areas. Two long distance trails, the Norfolk Coast Cycleway and Sustrans Route 1 also provide access.

The shoreline provides access and recreation opportunities. The coastline itself provides a valued resource for water-based recreation and attracts a diverse range of activities including jet-skiing, motor cruising, angling and bird-watching.

52 per cent of the NCA has status equivalent to a National Park in which the Broads Authority promotes sustainable tourism, striving to ensure that recreation does not harm the natural environment.

Main beneficiary – National

Analysis – Access and recreational opportunities exist to benefit local people and visitors. These areas contribute to feelings of relaxation and well-being. There is potential to increase routine engagement with the natural environment to further benefit physical and mental health.

Recreation makes a significant contribution to the tourism income of the area, particularly the distinctive tourism opportunities offered by sailing and boating holidays.

Remote broads provide a significant tranquillity resource offering silence, inspiration and feelings of escapism, especially in winter. Habitats contribute to earning opportunities, for example for birdwatchers; although conflicts do exist between wildlife conservation and the popularity of the area for recreation relating to wildlife disturbance and boat related pollution of the broads and waterways.

Despite the extent of the navigable network in the Broads, very little use is made of the water as a means of public transport. Access to the area is mostly by car, often causing congestion at popular sites.

Along the coast, areas of high use are located where the beach is accessible by road, including Eccles-on-Sea, Sea Palling and Winterton-on-Sea.

Opportunities – Identify areas where access is currently poor. Increase people’s routine engagement with the natural environment to further benefit physical and mental health by developing improved public access that contributes to feelings of well- being.

Provide interpretation of the history, biodiversity, geodiversity and other aspects of the landscape in well visited locations.

Improve people’s understanding of the farmed environment through educational access.

Link public footpaths, settlements and long distance paths, especially on rising ground so as to be resilient to rising water levels. Create new routes adjacent to water to replace river bank routes that may be lost as a result of managed realignment and the development of a more natural flood plain.

Extend access while meeting the goals of the Broads Flood Alleviation Project.

Avoid adverse impacts of access (for example disturbance, erosion and littering). Avoid developing new access into quiet refuge zones for overwintering birds.

Assess the likely increase in visitor numbers resulting from future development and population increase, identifying areas most at risk from the negative impacts of recreation and maintain tranquillity levels by creating ‘quiet zones/areas’.

Work in partnership to promote ecotourism as a mechanism to reduce environmental damage to waterways due to tourism pressure.

Support well planned green infrastructure to provide sustainable access routes that enhance community safety, foster community cohesion and contribute to physical and mental health.

Maximise the recreational benefits provided by the coastline, particularly the feelings of wilderness and freedom provided by the shoreline. During the development of coastal access, ensure that the coastal dune system is protected from damage resulting from excessive recreational pressure (for example by the development of a strategy for public access management).

Principal services offered by opportunities –

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

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Semi-natural habitats including: open water, rivers and broads, coastal and flood plain grazing marsh, reedbed, fen, flood plain scrub, carr woodland and wet woodland, ditches and dykes, lowland heathland, coastal dune, maritime cliff and slope and mudflats.
• Geomorphology and operation of active processes.

State – Land covered by international nature conservation designations (SPA, SAC, and Ramsar sites) totals 6,959 ha (12 per cent of the total land area). There are 2 Ramsar, 3 SPA and 2 SAC sites.

Land covered by National Nature conservation designations (NNR and SSSI) totals approximately 7,000 ha, 12 per cent of the total land area. There are 10 NNR and 39 SSSI sites.

There are also 103 Local Nature Reserves in the Broads covering 1,624 ha.

In 2011 over 70 per cent of the SSSI area is in either favourable or unfavourable recovering condition.

Main beneficiary – International

Analysis – Wetland habitats including fens, reedbeds, grazing marsh, wet woodland, salt marshes, intertidal mudflats and various coastal formations form one of the finest and largest marshland complexes in the UK, which provides important habitats for a extremely diverse range of animal and plant species, some rare and others restricted in their UK distribution to the Broads.

Iconic species include the swallowtail butterfly, holly-leaved naiad, fen orchid, bittern, marsh harrier and otters. The coast is also important for little tern, and common and grey seals.

Key to the success of these habitats is the quality of water in the appropriate quantities.

Increasing threats to biodiversity come from non-native species, seasonal variability in river flows, depleted groundwater resources, incursion of saltwater from tidal flooding and diffuse pollution from land management. Climate change and rising sea levels add further challenges.

The biodiversity provides high value landscapes, improvements in connectivity and benefits to other ecosystem services. Where in favourable condition. Where in unfavourable condition the landscape condition is generally lower.

Opportunities – Protect and safeguard the Broads internationally- significant resource of rare and protected species. Improve the health and resilience of the habitat network and associated biodiversity to safeguard against the consequential impacts of sea level rise and climate change.

Identify opportunities for a more naturally functioning river and flood plain. Promote initiatives which facilitate re- wetting the drained flood plain, to maintain peat resource and promote carbon sequestration.

Create new fenland habitat at the upstream extent of the system and plan for further sustainable restoration work through the adaptive management of the adjacent flood plain.

Reinstate and extend wet grassland for breeding waders (for example lapwing, redshank, and snipe) and wintering wildfowl.

Facilitate agricultural businesses in being able to undertake more tailored conservation management, through the encouragement and support provided by agri-environment schemes for example encourage the reinstatement of permanent pasture from arable within the drained marshland, to help extend and link marshland habitats.

Use the spatial planning system to maintain adequate land for the natural environment. Identify research needs and commission appropriate studies to increase the effectiveness of strategies when implemented.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Biodiversity
• Geodiversity
• Regulating water quality
• Regulating soil erosion
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Recreation
• Water availability

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Coastal geomorphological processes
• Geological exposures (coastal cliffs)
• River valley exposures
• Quarry exposures
• Geomorphology
• Archaeology
• Palaeo- environments

State – There are 2 Local Geological Sites within the NCA.

Notable features are the soft sediment cliffs at Happisburgh that consist of Quaternary sediments underlain occasionally by Late Tertiary deposits. The foreshore at Happisburgh contains evidence of the earliest human occupation of Britain over 800,000 years ago.

Norwich Crag formation exposures at Bramerton Pits SSSI and Leet Hill SSSI and along the edges of the Bure and Ant Valleys and the Yare and Waveney Valleys.

Isolated deposits of glacial sands and gravels are present in the northern uplands and along the edges of the Yare and Waveney Valleys.

The geology of the south of the NCA is dominated by chalky boulder clay (Lowestoft Till) deposited by the Anglian ice sheet.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – When attacked by waves the soft cliffs slump and slide down on to the beach before being washed away. The cliffs and the continuing succession of exposed sediments are central to understanding the quaternary climatic and environmental ‘history’ across the wider NCA, which may well, have implications for our understanding of the impacts of future climate change.

Opportunities – Ensure that sand and gravel extraction sites are restored to contribute to local landscape character and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity opportunities, providing improved access where possible. This should be reflected in quarry restoration plans.

Use geological sites to attract visitors of all kinds including those interested in archaeology and history, those interested in the local area and people interested in geology.

Use these sites as an educational tool for local people and also the wider community.

Ensure that geodiversity sites continue to be protected, and improve these sites so that their status doesn’t decline.

Utilise opportunities to emphasise the integral role of geodiversity in underpinning the landscape and influencing the character of the NCA.

Maintain and enhance the geological and geomorphological resource through implementation of the Norfolk Geodiversity Action Plan, specifically through maintenance of natural fluvial and coastal processes together with the development of local geological conservation strategies and assessment of educational/ research value of new sites.

Identify opportunities for geodiversity (and biodiversity) enhancement which might develop through the reinstatement of natural flood plain and coastal functioning.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

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