Morgan Sindall Group and the RSPB

In 2022, the RSPB joined forces with Morgan Sindall Group, a leading construction and regeneration group, to purchase an additional 54 hectares of land at the RSPB’s Lakenheath Fen reserve in Norfolk. That’s an expansion the size of 75 and a half football pitches now being restored for nature as part of the reserve!

The purchased parcels of land have helped us to start to create a more joined-up habitat. Over time, they will be turned into more wetland, including fen, wet grassland and species-rich grassland. Not only will this create more important habitat for wildlife, but it will also reduce the loss of carbon from the peat-rich soil, ultimately helping to fight climate change. 

The acquisition is not only transformative for the reserve but will also make a positive impact on the people who visit, including Morgan Sindall Group employees. The team attended an Open Day and have taken part in volunteering days to experience firsthand what nature conservation is about and why it matters.

The Fens in the east of England are important wetland habitat, comprising of low-lying marshes on the flood plains of the feeder rivers into The Wash. Once 1,500 square miles of frequently flooded land, most of the area had been drained for agriculture over the past 400 years.

The 400-hectare Lakenheath Fen lies on the Norfolk and Suffolk border. In 1995, the RSPB acquired the land primarily for the conservation of the Bittern, a bird driven to near extinction from the UK due to a loss of reedbed habitat. Until 1995, Lakenheath Fen had been farmland used for growing carrots. Due to extensive management, it now holds host to an array of invaluable habitats, including wet grassland, grazed fenlands, ancient woodland, open pools and reedbed. 

The restoration of the site has boosted numbers of threatened bird species, including Bitterns and Cranes.  Largescale drainage of wetlands saw the disappearance of breeding Cranes in the UK by the 18th century. They re-established as breeding birds in the UK in the late 1970s on the Norfolk Broads, and their breeding population has since expanded to Lakenheath Fen, where they have been successfully nesting since 2007.

Morgan Sindall Group plc is a leading UK Construction & Regeneration group and an environmental leader within its sector. In 2023, for the fourth year in a row,  Morgan Sindall Group was awarded an A Grade by  CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, in recognition of its actions to tackle climate change.  It was also the first construction company in the UK to set and approve science-based emission reduction targets and, in 2012, became the first non-FTSE 350 company ever to be included in the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index.