Sir

I write in response to the article by Louise Gray, 'Wetlands to be recreated in England' published on 3 February.

The National Trust were thrilled that Lord Smith of Finsbury, Chairman of the Environment Agency was able to visit Wicken Fen on World Wetlands Day; particularly as Wicken Fen is one of 1874 wetlands sites worldwide designated as of 'International Importance' under the Ramsar Convention 1971.

Much of the visit was taken up with positive and productive discussions on partnership working between ourselves, the Environment Agency and the National Farmers Union. It was clear that our objectives share much common ground. Core to this is the desire to balance the needs for sustainable wildlife and habitat conservation, food production, public access and the rich cultural heritage of this important and distinctive part of East Anglia.

I would like to correct a few inaccuracies in the article regarding the status of the two leading landscape restoration projects in Cambridgeshire though. The Wicken Fen Vision , near Cambridge, is administered by the National Trust whilst the Great Fen Project, near Peterborough, is administered by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough.

Today due to widespread drainage and development only around 0.1% of fenland habitat survives in East Anglia, which once covered an area of over 3,800 sq km.

The Wicken Fen Vision is a 100 year project by the National Trust to create a landscape-scale nature reserve and a green lung for Cambridgeshire and the East of England. The Vision will help protect and conserve many of our most endangered wetland species whilst providing an area of open countryside for public access and recreation.

The reference to 'flooding' of land is unfortunately misleading; a more appropriate description would be re-wetting. The National Trust's intention is to recreate a mosaic of traditional fenland habitats, such as wet grasslands rather than large bodies of standing water. Dry in the summer and wet in the winter. The vast majority of the land in the Vision area will remain in agricultural production as high quality grazing land.

More information on the Wicken Fen Vision can be found at www.wicken.org.uk

Yours sincerely