11 new information boards have been placed in the Barton Broad and Catfield Fen area, telling visitors about the plants and wildlife. The signs have been installed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust at staithes, car parks, moorings and walkways.
NWT Interpretation Officer Chris Hood said: “We have produced a series of interpretation panels that focus on the Barton Broad and Catfield Fen reserves, helping people to orient themselves when they are on site and telling them a little bit about the wildlife and special plants they have a hope of seeing. They also set Barton and Catfield in the wider context of the Bure Valley Living Landscape.”
A Living Landscape is a recovery scheme for nature, used by the Wildlife Trusts since 200. They aim to create corridors of suitable habitats, such as river valleys or hedgerows, which act as ‘wildlife highways’ that allow species to move through the countryside.
Three of the information boards – at Catfield Fen and by the Herons’ Carr car park – have been funded by waste management company Biffa as part of the Biffa Landfill Communities Fund for work at Catfield Fen which has included scrub clearance and the creation of turf ponds and water level monitoring equipment. The fen is home to rare species including fen orchid, marsh fern, swallowtail butterflies and Norfolk hawker dragonflies.
The other eight signs have been funded by Norfolk Wildlife Trust. All the signs have been placed in consultation with landowners and local organisations. Barton Turf, used as a mooring place by many Barton Broad boaters, is one of the sign locations.
Barton Turf & Irstead Parish Council Chairman Tim Edmunds, at a meeting on site to discuss the placing of the sign, said: “This is a popular but tranquil place and people come here because they want to see its natural beauty. Visitors come here because of the quality of the environment and these boards will help them interpret the area they are enjoying.”