Mills & Reeve at heart of Stoke Ferry biodiversity campaign

Mills & Reeve has teamed up with Albanwise Environment, a nature recovery and land management company, to create new areas for nature conservation in a project that will also have long term benefits for the wider community.

The aim is to create a large new area for wildlife and people at Stoke Ferry wetland in west Norfolk, including rare and threatened wetland species such as dragonflies, otters, wildfowl and an array of birds.

Stoke Ferry wetland is uniquely positioned in a strategically important river corridor in the floodplain of the River Wissey close to other existing and potential new wetlands.

The land is difficult to cultivate and is often either waterlogged or the peat soil degrades during times of drought. However, there’s still plenty of potential for restoring the peat soils, helping to draw atmospheric carbon back down into the ground.

In a first step towards planning the restoration of the site, environmental DNA (eDNA) specialists NatureMetrics have extracted genetic traces of the land from soil samples to detect which species live in and around the area.

The soil samples are then amplified and compared to global reference libraries that contain the genomes of tens of thousands of species. The team can connect the peatland soil and water samples with a list of species that live in the project area to find out where the land needs to improve.

The eDNA will also be compared to samples taken from existing wetland sites nearby. This will give clues to the sort of habitats and landscapes that could develop at Stoke Ferry in 20-30 years’ time. Albanwise will be using these results to develop a plan to restore the natural environment at Stoke Ferry wetland.

Jessica Wilkes-Ball, head of sustainability and net zero at Mills & Reeve, said: “We’ve started to set the scene for what environment and sustainability means at Mills & Reeve and this project is part of our current strategy to work alongside organisations that share our values.

“We wanted to identify a project that gave us the opportunity to give back to the community and nature, so we teamed up with Albanwise Environment and NatureMetrics because partnerships like these are vital to collectively move the dial on sustainability. We really see the value in nature restoration, biodiversity net gain and nature recovery.”

Mike Edwards, Director at Albanwise Environment, added: “My vision for Albanwise Environment is a company driving nature recovery, generating a range of revenue streams from the sale of biodiversity units, carbon credits, nutrient credits and providing increased access and recreation.

“We’ve identified the Stoke Ferry wetland creation project, as it’s located on an area of land prone to surface water flooding and poor drainage, making it a more difficult area to consistently farm productively. The site’s location adjacent to the River Wissey and Stringside Stream also make it possible to re-wet the area relatively easily.”

Andy Millar, Norfolk Environment Manager at Albanwise Environment, commented: “There’s a growing body of evidence, that for land management to be resilient to climate change and to help address the biodiversity crisis, we need to change the way we manage soil and water.

“Stoke Ferry wetland is a fantastic opportunity to create a new nature-rich landscape at scale and achieve multiple aims for wildlife, people, and climate resilience in one go.

“Re-wetting the peat soils and creating a new wetland will help create a more sustainable land management model that’ll store water, draw carbon back into the ground, build flood and drought resilience, and create habitats that can potentially produce high-welfare meat for consumption through extensive grazing.

“Our partnership with Mills & Reeve and NatureMetrics will help in gathering the best possible data and evidence to help develop the project and ensure maximum benefits for wildlife at the site.”