Living Landscapes
Flit Vale Living Landscape Initiative
Scheme area: 2,000 hectares
Benefits include: Habitat restoration, flood alleviation, carbon sequestration, recreational opportunities for local communities and visitors
Rising on the chalk of the north Chilterns, the River Flit winds across southern Bedfordshire, from the rich neutral grasslands and ancient woodland at Fancott, past some of the UK’s best alder woods and central England’s finest valley mire at Flitwick, which is fed also by the acid waters of springs sourced in the Greensand Ridge
.
The Wildlife Trust’s Flit Vale Project has already purchased a new nature reserve at Fancott Woods and Meadows, the superb grassland, with unusually tall and impressive Frog Orchids and a very diverse flora embraced by a horseshoe of ancient woodland. The nature reserve at Flitwick Moor has twice been enlarged in recent years, most recently through the acquisition of Folly Wood, described by Graham Bellamy in 2007 as ‘twenty acres of mossy heaven’. This valley mire is the most important site for fungi, mosses and liverworts in central England. It supports species otherwise found in the valley mires of Dorset and the New Forest, growing among lush ferns and horsetails, and the only regular breeding population of water rail in Bedfordshire. The alder woods at Flitwick are among the largest in England. As a peatland, the whole site is holding a huge volume of carbon in its soil. As the mire is restored, it will sequester even more carbon dioxide in the future.
The Flit Vale Living Landscape Initiative aims to improve habitat quality and connectivity in the valley of the River Flit from close to its source, near Luton to Shefford. By working with landowners and users, with local authorities and government agencies, the Trust will encourage beneficial management and improved understanding. The project has already been supported by Communities and Local Government’s Growth Area Fund as it provides essential greenspace and the freedom walk for the growing population of Luton and the rest of the Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area. Local people are supportive of the project and recently fundraised successfully to purchase Folly Wood.
Click here to listen to Brian Eversham, Chief Executive, explaining Living Landscapes and what it means for our three counties.
Click here for a map of the Living Landscape project areas.