Sugar Fen extends to 54 acres and measures approximately 650m x 350m. On the southern side it is bordered by Leziate Drove and the Gaywood river runs along the western side. it can be accessed on foot from Leziate Drove and in the north east corner from permissive path in Pott Row Woods. 

 

Sugar Fen is designated as open access land under the CROW act and anyone is welcome to walk on the fen at any time.

 

The fen is home to many plants and animals including sundews, roe deer, bats, and slow worms.

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During the summer the fenland is grazed to manage the dominant grasses and encourage the more interesting native wild plants and flowers to flourish.

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Sugar Fen is a nationally important site for nature conservation and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest .

 

It was first notified in 1955 and in the SSSI citation it is described as:

"Damp Birch woodland with frequent Alder Alnus Glutinosa on the wettest soils covers much of this fen. Small areas of fen grassland occur on the edges of the woodland and are dominated by Creeping Bent Agrostis Stolonifera with Ragged Robin Lychnis Flos-cuculi, Water Mint, Southern Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza Praetermissa and Marsh Marigold Caltha Palustris.

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There are extensive areas of dry, grassy heath with scattered Gorse bushes but the most interesting parts of the site occur in areas of Heather heath. Here wet boggy hollows are dominated by Cross-leaved Heath and notable plants include Cranberry Vaccinium Oxycoccos, Sundew Drosera Rotundifolia and Bog Mosses Sphagnum spp.

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The grassy mounds on the area adjacent to the river are the homes of the yellow field ants.

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Sugar Fen supports 4 species of reptile (common lizard, slow worm, grass snake and adder). As such it is classed as a key reptile site and is one of only a few sites in Norfolk to support all four of the widespread reptile species.

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A survey of the reptiles at Sugar Fen in 2001 showed there were good numbers of slow worm, grass snake and adder but the population of common lizard was limited to a relatively restricted area where their preferred habitat of tussocky grassland was present. 

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One of the key features required for all reptiles is a mosaic of rough grassland or heathland in which to feed, scattered areas of scrub and gorse to provide cover and hibernation sites and south facing margins in which to bask. Initially, during the monitoring period of 19 years, Sugar Fen provided all of these.

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However, over the initial years, the gorse had taken over in many areas creating a dense sward making it unsuitable not only for reptiles but for many other fauna and flora species which benefit from more open ground conditions (many on the SSSI citation).

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Given that the presence of reptiles has been identified as one of the key groups on Sugar Fen, recent management has aimed to improve the habitat for them. In many areas of the country, reptile populations (and in particular adders) are in severe decline.

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The Amphibian and Reptile groups (ARG) UK website reports the following:

The adder is one of our three native snake species, most often found on heaths, moors and coastal areas. However, its secretive nature and camouflaged markings mean it often goes unnoticed. Whilst it has a large range across the UK, recent declines especially in central England, mean it is of major conservation concern. The adder is the UK’s only venomous snake. Though potentially serious, adder bites to humans or dogs are very rarely fatal.

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Management to remove the dense gorse sward and create a more open mosaic has improved the reptile habitat significantly and reptile sightings have been increased in years 2019 to 2021. Using dead hedges of cut gorse has also provided extra habitat and maintains undisturbed areas that the adders require without restricting the use of the fens. Albeit some of the works have been undertaken by contractors, much assistance has been provided by the Gaywood Valley Conservation Volunteers in developing this habitat.

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In 2012, approximately 30 lizards were translocated to Sugar Fen from the site of the new Hardwick Tesco store with the approval of Natural England. In 2019, Philip Parker (as the recorder for the Norfolk Amphibian and Reptile Group) was approached by ecological consultants working for the Borough Council to see if he knew of any potential receptor sites for a colony of common lizard should they need to be translocated from a proposed development site in King’s Lynn. Given that the population of common lizard on Sugar Fen was still relatively small (despite the previous additions) with a low gene pool, the introduction of further animals was seen to be advantageous and would fit in well with the improved management of the fen. The Council therefore gave the Trust £8000 to assist with the habitat management. No animals have yet been translocated onto the Fen and this would not happen unless the proposed development was given planning approval and to be undertaken.

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In recent years several bat and bird boxes have been installed on the fen to provide additional roosting and nesting habitat for these species and to make it easier to monitor their population levels.