Connecting communities to their local wild greenspace through a series of enhanced circular walks

In the heart of the Cambridgeshire Fens a huge area of land is being transformed. We are 20 years into an exciting partnership between Hanson and the RSPB, which is creating RSPB Ouse Fen by restoring the sand and gravel quarry at Needingworth into a nationally significant 460ha wetland wilderness.

This wetland habitat is teaming with wildlife and with recently improved visitor access to the site, now is the time for us to focus efforts on working with local communities. We want the communities surrounding Ouse Fen to visit the site, benefit from it, love it and support it.

This project will create four circular walks from village to nature reserve, sustainably connecting communities to Ouse Fen. We will work with each of the four communities to define a route that will be turned into an engaging illustrated online map, and choose a destination feature, such as a seating area or nest boxes.

By involving communities in this project we hope to foster a sense of ownership of the site and a desire to protect it for generations to come. We will also help people understand the mental and physical health benefits associated with access to local greenspace and have a greater appreciation of how their reserve is part of a wider environmental conservation movement.

The community will be invited to install the destination feature and at the end of the project we will run free guided walks to promote the newly mapped routes and this wonderful reserve being created at Needingworth Quarry.