The case for Catfield (part 3 and conclusion?)

Last Friday, about an hour after Mr Cameron had visited the Queen to ask her to form a new Government, the Environment Agency announced that it had refused two water abstraction licence renewal applications that were threatening rare wildlife found on Sutton and Catfield Fens.

This was extremely good news and shows that the system to protect our finest wildlife sites is working!

As I have written previously (see here and here), these sites in the Broads are of international importance and possibly contain the largest number of threatened species in the whole of the UK including some very rare water beetles and plants like the beautiful and delicate Fen Orchid (of which the site holds more than 90% of the UK population).

The RSPB supported the decision to refuse the licences and presented significant evidence that strengthened the case. The evidence presented was scrutinised by Natural England who agreed that refusing the licences was the only option available to the Environment Agency.

Taken together the two sites are part of the Broads Special Area of Conservation designated under the EU Habitats and Species Directive (one of the two laws that are currently being reviewed by the European Commission).

Water has been abstracted adjacent to Catfield since 1986 to irrigate arable crops. Recent evidence indicates that the site has become more acidic, and drier, and this is threatening some of the country's rarest species. We were not advocating that there should be no water dependent agriculture within the Catfield Fen area. However, given the importance of these sites, we have been advocating the need for water to be managed responsibly.

My message to those intent on weakening the Directives is to back off. This case is an example of a competent authority doing the right thing to protect rare and threatened wildlife including more than 90% of the UK population of an internationally important plants such as Fen Orchid – one of the few UK plants listed on Annex II of the Habitats Directive thereby warranting special protection.

My message to those of you keen to defend the laws that defend nature, is to join the other 76,000 people that have already, since Tuesday, taken part in the Commission consultation by joining our campaign here.

I hope to get back to Sutton and Catfield Fens this summer. I am determined to see its swallowtail butterflies .

Finally, many congratulations to all those involved in get the right result for these two fabulous sites.