The Brecks
The Brecks (or Breckland) in East Anglia covers almost 400 square miles. It is a truly unique landscape in terms of its special and well-documented wildlife, which has captured the interest of naturalists for generations. Importantly, with the right management the Brecks’ flora and fauna can exist alongside productive farming and forestry.
The farm business members in the Breckland Farmers Wildlife Network here in the Brecks produce meat (sheep and beef), vegetables (onions, potatoes, carrots, asparagus) grain (wheat, barley, oats) and oilseed rape.
Fascinating facts about the Brecks
There are lots of special features in the Brecks:
- It is the warmest and driest part of the UK, whilst a frost can occur almost in any month
- Two-thirds of the land is farmed
- We’ve got Neolithic flint mines, medieval churches, priories and rabbit warrens
- 40% of the Brecks has a special conservation designation
- Stone curlew, nightjar and woodlark are distinctive Breckland birds
- 7,000 ha of semi-natural ‘grass-heath’ habitat still persists in the landscape
Forty farmers in the Brecks have joined together to help Breckland wildlife thrive and move easily within and between our farms, and our membership continues to grow. From our story so far, you can read why we began and what we are achieving.