A refuge for wild life and holidaymakers
The Broads provide sanctuary in an increasingly hectic world, the area is a place to relax and enjoy the natural world. They provide more than 200km (125miles) of lock-free navigable waterways, and support 65 boatyards in the area which hire out boats to more than a million visitors a year. The area boasts a fine boating tradition, with the distinctive wherry.

	A heron in flight over Hickling.

The Broads is home to the largest protected wetland in Britain. On a global scale, wetlands are under pressure. Here, wildlife that thrived for centuries in the wet marshes and fen has disappeared as the habitat is neglected, changed and lost.

The Broads are now a mosaic of important habitats, and home to rare wildlife found nowhere else in the country. For this reason, the Broads have international and national recognition.

The Broads' culture and landscape have developed over the centuries from the way people used the area to make a living. In this living landscape, people and nature have lived side by side, each dependent on the other.

The Broads are special because they serve as an example of the challenges we face all over the world - to make a living while recognising our responsibility to maintain the social and natural fabric of the areas for future generations.

From Roman seaside resort to motorcruisers
About the Broads
Map
Who runs the Broads?