Transforming the Fens: Why Britain’s Breadbasket Holds the Key to Climate Resilience

Read our report, proposing A Network of Local Reservoirs, to transform the Fens

Stretching across 5,000 square kilometres of reclaimed wetlands and peat soils, the Fens have long been Britain’s “breadbasket.” Meticulously drained and managed, this landscape produces an astonishing share of the nation’s food. Although the Fens account for less than 4% of England’s farmland, they deliver more than 7% of the country’s crop value, sustaining a food-chain economy worth over £3 billion and employing 80,000 people.

The Fens grow nearly a third of our fresh vegetables and a fifth of our flowers and bulbs underpinning our food security and horticultural innovation. They also generate renewable energy at scale, powering hundreds of thousands of households. In short, the Fens are not a backwater: they are an economic powerhouse at the heart of the East of England.

A Landscape Under Pressure

But the Fens are also uniquely fragile. Much of the land lies below sea level, leaving farms, homes, and infrastructure exposed to the growing threat of flooding. Rising seas, heavier rainfall, and more extreme weather events are testing flood defences to their limits. Meanwhile, peat soils continue to degrade, releasing carbon, reducing soil fertility, and causing land subsidence that undermines drainage systems.

Water scarcity is another growing concern. With irrigated crops worth three-quarters of a billion pounds a year, farmers are increasingly squeezed by recurring droughts and stricter water abstraction rules. Add in biodiversity loss, with habitats for nearly 2,000 priority species under pressure, and it is clear that the Fens face a convergence of environmental and economic risks.

Infrastructure adds a further constraint. Outdated mid-level water, energy, and transport networks limit the region’s ability to adapt. Without bold investment, the Fens’ contribution to the national economy could be weakened just when food security and climate resilience matter most.

Signs of Renewal

Despite these pressures, there are ambitious initiatives underway to reimagine the Fens for the future. Programmes like Future Fens Integrated Adaptation (FFIA) bring together water companies, farmers, regulators, and drainage boards to map landscape-wide solutions. The Environment Agency’s Fens 2100+ programme, backed by £9.8 million, is developing long-term investment strategies to shore up flood resilience and close a multi-billion-pound funding gap.

New reservoirs are also on the table, designed to secure drinking water, support irrigation, and restore wetland habitats. Coastal barriers and inter-catchment transfer schemes are being explored to handle both drought and flooding in one integrated system. These initiatives reflect a systems approach: tackling the Fens’ interconnected challenges in ways that strengthen both the environment and the economy.

Unlocking Growth

The Government has made growth its central mission, and the transformation of the Fens aligns with that ambition. The opportunities are clear:

• Local water markets: Expanding and linking reservoirs could create a regional network, where surplus water is sold back to water companies rather than wasted.

• Stronger supply chains: By embedding local procurement into hospitals, schools, and public institutions, small and mid-sized farms can grow with guaranteed demand, enhancing both food security and local resilience.

• Skills and employment: From regenerative agriculture to green infrastructure, transformation requires new skills. Colleges, universities, and employers can collaborate to train the workforce of the future.

• Transport links: Better regional transport would connect communities and businesses across multiple counties. With the Fens straddling East Anglia and South Lincolnshire, a polycentric growth model—where several towns and cities share prosperity—becomes not just possible, but logical.

A National Asset

The Fens are more than a farming district: they are a national asset whose future will shape the prosperity of the East of England and beyond. Getting the next chapter right means treating the Fens not just as land to be managed, but as a platform for innovation in food, water, energy, and climate resilience.

Transforming the Fens is not just about protecting a landscape. It is about creating jobs, strengthening supply chains, safeguarding food security, and building resilience to climate change. Above all, it is about recognising that the fortunes of this distinctive region are inseparable from the fortunes of the nation itself.

Transform the Fens, and you help transform the East—and in doing so, strengthen the whole of the UK.