In the 17th century, when the first large-scale attempts were being made to drain the Fens, an anonymous protest ballad imagined the creaturely resentment coursing through the waters of the wetlands. “For they do mean all Fens to drain, and waters overmaster,” laments a sea lamprey in Powte’s Complaint. “All will be dry, and we must die, ’cause Essex calves want pasture”.
The local protests were in vain. Since 1700, according to research published this year, the UK has lost more than 75% of its wetlands as land has been drained for development and farming. The Industrial Revolution inevitably accelerated the destruction of terrain that was viewed simply as wasteland. But the tide may finally be turning for habitats that should be valued as 21st century environmental assets, crucial both to preserving biodiversity and protecting Britain’s coastline.
