Continuing our Contested Landscape series Martin Hesp has been to West Sedgemoor – the site of one of the greatest landscape battles ever

THE peninsula of low-lying land which stabs its marshy way into the rolling hills of Somerset might look peaceful enough nowadays – on a chill winter's day it is so serene many thousands of birds waddle casually about on its semi-flooded plain – but not long ago this was one of the most contested landscapes in Britain.

In the early 1980s the battle for its future was a hot one indeed – at least it was when local farmers took to burning effigies of the conservationists who decreed the wetland plain of West Sedgemoor should become a whole lot wetter.

In many areas of the world, people fight over water, but usually because there is not enough of it – in a few places arguments arise because there is too much. West Sedgemoor might be miles from the sea, but it sits several feet under high tide level, making it potentially one of the wettest bits of terra-firma in southern England.

To drain, or not to drain, is the question. It's one that is still often asked now on the Somerset Levels, although things have changed a good deal since local farmers were seen on national TV news in 1981 burning life-size effigies of the men who wanted more water than less.

Just under three decades later, the effigies have gone – in fact a few people out on the flatlands reckon they should build statues to those early conservationists. The RSPB reserves in the area draw in so many visitors it is reckoned the economy of this hitherto unvisited corner of the Westcountry has benefited hugely from conservation measures.

Basically, conservationists like wet wetlands because a diverse range of plants and animals like the boggy stuff too. Farmers, on the other hand, prefer dry wetlands because they can use the drained peats and soils to produce meat, milk and crops.

So is West Sedgemoor still a contested landscape? Or is the battleground now silent save for bird cries?

The answer, to some extent, depends on who you talk to. RSPB staff, as we shall hear, point to the massive success of the organisation's reserves and to the many agreements it now has with local farmers. But there are those from the world of agriculture who'd tell you the battleground isn't quite free of unfriendly fire yet.

The WMN was taken by RSPB conservation manager Richard Archer to its massive West Sedgemoor reserve where we were shown what looked like a massive lake which was actually several 100 acres of flooded ex-farmland. On it were many thousands of birds which had come distant places to over-winter in what is, ornithologically speaking, a vital part of South West England.

"The Somerset Levels are one of the most important wetland areas in the country," Richard told us. "They cover about 30,000 hectares and there's a core of about 6,000 hectares in the middle which still hold a lot of wetland.

"In the late 70s it was clear to us and other bodies that a lot of the wetland had been disappearing – ploughed up for carrots, potatoes and other crops – and we wanted to buy up some of this land to try and protect what remained of the wetland areas. And we now own about 1,000 hectares on Somerset Levels including West Sedgemoor.

"Because we had protection given to this land in the late 70s we are able to stand here and look at wetland," says Richard with obvious pride. "But why is the wetland here? Because this is an active floodplain – there's lots of water that passes through it, in winter particularly. It's flat land – and very difficult to defend from a flood-defence point of view."

Now we get to one of the RSPB's key arguments when it comes to allowing the plain to return to a natural wet state.

"The cost of farming here is actually very high indeed in terms of all the flood defence that's required to manage it," says Richard. "I think there is a feeling, particularly amongst conservationists and increasingly amongst people in government, that there must be a way of managing them [wetlands] which, in terms of public expense, makes more sense."

Richard claims many millions have been spent on protecting the lowland areas from flooding. "I think we have to question if that is good value for money – particularly in terms of climate change," he said. "We are told we are going to get wetter winters – so it is going to be much more expensive to protect these areas even if we wanted to.

"We have limited pots of money and we have to protect places like Gloucester and Hull and other parts of the country. Hard choices have to be made."

The RSPB has a couple of other arguments up its wetland sleeve.

"These sites are largely based on peat soils and those have great value when it comes to absorbing carbon dioxide and all the gases that are contributing climate change around the world," says Richard who, regardless of his passion for bird-rich wetlands, believes farming still has a vital role to play in the area.

"Farming is still central and critical to the future of the Levels and moors – but we're doing it in a way which is less expensive to the public purse – but which provides us with more benefits. There are plenty of other places where we can grow carrots and maize in this country – but there are very few other places where we can produce these wildlife spectacles," he said, gazing out at the sea of feathered widgeon, mallard, teal and all the other birds which come here each winter.

"We estimate on our reserves alone [in the Levels area] we have over 50,000 visitors a year and it is probably moving up towards 100, 000," says Richard. "We've put in visitor facilities – trails, car parks etc – and we have done surveys elsewhere to show there is a significant added value to the local economy, with people coming in using local shops, local facilities, staying overnight in accommodation etc.

"It is important that these sites are seen as an important part of the rural economy – just like farming itself." As we come to the close of our conservation Richard concludes: "Water is a contentious issue – it doesn't know boundaries.

"There is a proud history here of drainage and farming – and I can sympathise that the effort which has gone in has been great. But we've got just under 20 graziers here, and others on other sites. People say – you can't farm these areas – but we are showing you can."

As already mentioned, there are those within the agricultural industry who are not quite so enthusiastic about the conservationist view on the rewetting of the wetlands.

Ian Johnson is spokesman for the National Farmers' Union in the South West and he told the WMN: "The sort of ferocity of feeling that there once was out on the Somerset Levels has become diluted – but there is a frustration still there that the conservation bodies feel they know better how to manage the environment than farmers do.

"I once suggested to a conservationist that he wanted the Levels to be an uninhabitable swamp – and he said 'Yes'. But the Levels are like they are because of farmers," said Mr Johnson. "Down here in the South West farmers haven't got the 'prairie mentality' – and I think it would be much better if the authorities steered them towards conservation rather than bludgeoning them."

Some of the local farmers do not enjoy the great displays of birdlife quite as much as the rest of us. David Cotton, chairman of the NFU's Mid-Somerset group, told me why…

"We have issues like the starlings," he said, referring to the increasingly massive daily winter migrations. "We struggle to control the starlings – they eat a lot of food. They steal all the calf feed-cake and when they get in on the maize they make a terrible mess.

"They leave the Levels early in the morning and all fly back in the evening and everyone raves about pretty they are in the way they fly in huge groups – but as far as local dairy farmers are concerned they are a terrible nuisance. They make such an unhealthy mess with their droppings, apart from anything else."

As for the general arguments within the area, David said: "Farmers are not burning effigies any longer, no – but the amount of flooding is an issue. In fact, there are a whole load of factors – like nowadays when it rains, it rains in such large quantities. But there is a different way of thinking nowadays, compared to back then," concedes David. "In the long term, everyone has to work together."

When people work together, the landscape that most of us love so dearly is contested no more… The 100,000 people or so who visit the Levels each year to enjoy the natural spectacles provided by the wetlands will certainly be hoping that the new practice of working together beats the old one of effigy burning.