Restoration plan for Roydon Common and Tony Hallatt reserves

Norfolk Wildlife Trust has been given £210,350 from the FCC Communities Foundation as part of the Landfill Communities Fund to fund the project.

It includes restoration work to parts of its Roydon Common and Tony Hallatt Memorial reserves, near King's Lynn, which include globally important wildlife habitats including wetlands, woodlands and heathland.

The sites support an incredibly diverse range of plant and insect life, including many species that are rare or threatened in the UK such as black darter dragonfly, insectivorous sundew plants and the tormentil mining bee. 

An insect-eating sundew plant at Roydon (Image: David North)

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They also provide one of the most important locations for breeding waders in lowland England, along with breeding populations of iconic species, such as nightjar and woodlark and provide a winter home for a range of raptor species, including hen harriers, merlins and marsh harriers.   

Historically, these sites would once have formed part of a vast chain of wetlands, but almost all have now been lost.   

Ash Murray, Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s West Norfolk reserves manager, said: “Over the last 20 years, we have worked hard to restore the heathland and wetland habitats of these precious sites.

A nesting nightjar at Roydon Common (Image: Ash Murray)

"We’ve been thrilled to see so much rare and fascinating wildlife return - from incredible insect-eating plants and peat-forming mosses to rare fungi and an abundance of breeding wading birds. 

“We are excited to be embarking on this ambitious project to continue to restore these vital wetlands in Norfolk. We aim to bring back more natural water flows, undoing the damage caused by long-term land drainage systems.

Black darter dragonflies mating at Roydon Common (Image: Ian Saggers)

“Our work will bring back to life wetlands that have been damaged by past pollution and climate change for the benefit of Norfolk’s wildlife and people."

The project, due to be completed next year, will also help Norfolk Wildlife Trust to manage the ponies and cattle that graze the site to better benefit wildlife.