This has a direct impact on wildlife since animals use the fens as places to forage, hunt, rest and hide. The IPCC is spear heading a campaign to focus awareness on fens. A fen is a poorly drained wetland area covered by mats of floating plants and moss. These slowly decompose in successive layers to eventually from peat. Up to 200 different plants are found in fens.
Sedges dominate the vegetation.
Fens also support reeds, orchids, grasses and trees in the drier parts. Fens occur in river flood plains, on lake margins, in valleys and in parts of blanket bogs and dune grasslands where there is moving water. After peat cutting fens often regenerate on cutaway bogs. It's easy to regard fens as mere wasteland of little or no value. So it's not surprising that many people reclaim fens, by draining them or filling them in.