Dr Alex Lees is a Senior Lecturer in Conservation Biology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Dr Lees works to promote recognition of degraded landscapes in the UK. On our East Anglia coastline this means understanding that historically the area was largely wetlands, inhabited by pelicans and other charismatic species. Through centuries of intensified agriculture to turn the area into 'Britain's bread basket' we have lost nearly all of our historic ecosystems. However, there are some fragments that remain wild and work is being done to reconnect these areas and rewild the fenland landscape. This ecosystem restoration will have significant effect on our soil, both protecting it's quality for future food production and hugely increasing it's carbon fixing ability.