Renaturalising the River Chelt in Gloucestershire
A selection of river and floodplain restoration projects carried out by Wildlife Trusts. Restoration work is reinstating natural river courses and flow rates, improving bankside vegetation, providing homes for rare species like water voles and re-wetting floodplains.
Winnall Moors (Hampshire)
By reshaping stretches of riverbank, wildlife on the river has now been revived
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s restoration of the River Itchen at Winnall Moors nature reserve has demonstrated that restoration of heavily modified rivers can be achieved in a relatively short time. A positive partnership between the Wildlife Trust and the local angling community has helped to restore and manage the river to benefit both people and wildlife.
Extensively modified and intensively managed, the River Itchen had become disconnected from its natural floodplain. It was unnaturally deep and over-wide, with few features typical of a southern chalk stream. As a result, numbers of wild fish species such as wild brown trout and Atlantic salmon had decreased.
With the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the Trust undertook major work to restore the river to its natural form and function. By removing artificial structures and reshaping stretches of riverbank, the fishlife and other wildlife on the banks of the river have now been revived. Further work will continue to enhance conditions for wildlife and also to preserve important historical features of the site with the involvement of the local community.
River Trent Restoration Scheme (Staffordshire)
The new areas of wet woodland and reedbed habitat will encourage wildlife and slow water flow
The River Trent is the third longest river in England, flowing 298km from Staffordshire Moots to the Humber Estuary. In October 2012, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust completed a river rehabilitation scheme near the Catton Hall and Barton Quarry estates (near Croxall) to recreate some of the habitats that were lost through modification of the river in the past 200 years.
Phase 1 of the scheme saw a complete re-profiling of the banks along 1km of the river (pictured above). Unstable, manmade sections of the bank that sat too high above the water were excavated and 4,000 cubic metres of gravel re-introduced back into the Trent, reforming natural features such as shoals, chutes and new riffles, and regrading the banks.
Phase 2 of the scheme created a large backwater to act as a fish nursery and refuge for wildlife during floods. Small islands were made using live willow trees, and new areas of wet woodland and reedbed habitat were introduced to encourage wildlife and slow water flow.
This section of the river will require ongoing monitoring by the University of Salford and Central Rivers, and the Trust continues to work with partner organisations The Environment Agency, JBA Consulting and Central Rivers Initiative to improve and restore the river.
Connecting Catcott Great Fen to South Drain (Somerset)
The restoration should see the build up of a thriving fish population
The Catcott Great Fen Restoration Project was a large-scale wetland habitat re-creation project in the Somerset Levels run by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. Work was undertaken to reconnect Catcott Fen, a Wildlife Trust nature reserve, to the South Drain - a nearby watercourse - and to the wider managed water system.
The project transformed former peat diggings into reed beds, open water and fen – restoring these wetland habitats that were once so widespread on the Somerset Levels. Protective fences and gates were installed and ledges were created along the channel edges to aid the growth of bankside vegetation (which would eventually act as cover for smaller mammals).
The restoration will provide ideal habitat for wetland species like Cetti’s and reed warbler, water rail and moorhen, bittern, crane, bearded tits and marsh harrier. It will also benefit mammals such as otter and should see the build up of a thriving fish population and good numbers of invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Today the site is enjoyed by both wildlife and people alike (a new bird hide and boardwalks were installed as part of the project) with guided walks taking place along the waterways.
River Char Restoration Project (Dorset)
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By April 2012 contact had been made with landowners along 80% of the main river
The River Char is a small river in West Dorset full of interesting features. However, with a catchment of mostly clay soils, intensive dairy farming in the area and high levels of bank erosion, the river Char is failing Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives and fish numbers are low.
The River Char Restoration Project, headed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust, ran from November 2011 to December 2012 to tackle pollution and restore and enhance habitat diversity along the river. Volunteers reduced canopy cover to encourage new plant growth and cleared invasive, non-native Himalayan balsam. Sections of the river widened by overgrazing were narrowed and islands made from willow mattresses to create new mid-stream habitat.
During the scheme, partnerships were forged with the Environment Agency, Westcountry Rivers Trust and Natural England (through the Catchment Sensitive Farming Initiative), and invertebrate surveys were carried out by volunteers using the Riverfly Partnership methodology. By April 2012 contact had been made with landowners along 80% of the main river, and this group continues to work together on the restoration of this important river.
Telford Urban Catchment Restoration Project (Shropshire)
Piping and drains were removed and natural features reintroduced
Working with the Local Authority, the local Environment Agency team, and local businesses, this Defra funded project was run by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust to restore watercourses in the Telford area to a more natural condition. Piping and drains were removed and natural features reintroduced to canalised sections of the river. Habitats such as reedbed and wet woodland were also created to reduce the impact of pollutants from nearby industrial areas, road run-off and sewage.
As well as a heavy focus on practical work and habitat restoration, the project also aimed to raise awareness about water quality issues. Promotional material was distributed to around 170 local businesses to improve public understanding and a demonstration Sustainable Drainage System (or SuDS) was installed at one site to exemplify the a more effective and energy efficient way of reducing the impact of surgect water drainage discharges.
Living Waterways Project (Durham, Tees Valley, & Northumberland Wildlife Trusts)
The project aims to deliver Water Framework Directive targets across County Durham
Durham, Tees Valley and Northumberland Wildlife Trusts' Living Water Ways Project aimed to reduce diffuse pollution to waterways in urban areas. It also aimed to improve wildlife habitats through community involvement, education and practical habitat management.
By improving urban drainage systems, rivers that were failing to meet the requirements of European legislation on water quality - the Water Framework Directive - were restored to good health. Practical solutions included creating reedbeds and settlement ponds to stop and filter polluted water before it entered entering rivers and streams. In addition by providing advice to homeowners with misconnected waste water pipes, the problem could also be addressed at its source.
Through communication with local people and by organising a range of active events, the project increased public awareness of urban waterways and promoted the importance of these streams as habitats and corridors for wildlife while contributing towards Durham Biodiversity Action Plan targets and the European Water Framework Directive.
Initially funded for three years in 2009 to find sustainable solutions to flood risk in urban areas, the Living Waterways project has recently secured an additional three years funding from the Environment Agency. The new aim of the project is to deliver Water Framework Directive targets across County Durham and the boroughs of South Tyneside, Gateshead, Sunderland and Darlington.
River Shep Restoration Project (Cambridgeshire)
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In the long-term, it's expected that this scheme will result in a self-cleaning, silt-free gravelly river bed
The River Shep is a chalk river that has historically suffered from over-dredging, leading to siltation and slow flows. Fish no longer had the clean gravel riverbed they required on which to spawn, and the increasing silt was killing plantlife such as water crowfoot.
In 2011 the project aimed to clear the riverbed and improve wildlife habitat with the help of dedicated volunteers from The Friends of the River Shep and the Cambridge Conservation Volunteers. Large woody debris was introduced into particular areas of the river to speed up the flow of the water and provide a natural home for a range of plants and animals. Ledges along the river’s edge were created and sown with wildflower seed. The Harston Scouts also planted 400 plant plugs to provide cover and food for the nationally declining water vole. Deep holes in the river bed were then filled in with extra gravel and high-pressure jets were used to clean the silty gravel riffles.
Channel maintenance techniques were demonstrated to local volunteers, landowners and Environment Agency staff by the Trust, and a leaflet was created to showcase the project. The project has increased community awareness of the river, and in the long term, it’s expected that this scheme will result in a self-cleaning, silt-free gravelly river bed.
Stafford Brook (Staffordshire)
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The creation of backwaters, debris dams and silt benches help improve water quality
A tributary of the River Trent at Cannock Chase, Stafford Brook suffers from phosphate pollution and has very low populations of fish. Though some brook lamprey, native brown trout and bullhead fish remain, deepening and straightening of the brook has produced a uniform habitat which makes it unsuitable for most river wildlife.
A restoration project by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust used large woody debris to form new pools and split channels. The creation of backwaters, debris dams (pictured above) and silt benches help improve water quality and create still waters in which fish can breed. Land drainage pipes in an adjacent field have been excavated and removed, and this has instead allowed fertiliser runoff to filter through a buffer strip next to the river.
The next stage in this scheme is to monitor any changes to the fish and invertebrate populations, to assess whether these are growing, that the state of wildlife is improving and the habitat is being restored
Shawford Shallows (Hampshire)
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Community consultation is ongoing and local residents have been supportive of the scheme
Shawford Shallows is part of the Itchen Navigation, a chalk river needing restoration along much of its length. Heavy tree growth had badly silted the channel, and a downstream lock has altered the river's natural flow preventing the riverbed from being scoured clean; but after Lottery and Environment Agency funding enabled the lock to be bypassed, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust began work to rehabilitate wildlife on this part of the river.
The Trust reduced tree cover, allowing light onto the banks of the channel, and added woody debris and brushwood faggots (bundles of brushwood) to the river. Locally grown bank plants were then reintroduced. Tree and scrub management was also included in the project and channel narrowing took place through creation of marginal berms, resulting in banks that mimicked the natural channel. This work will enable the channel to function effectively in low summer and high winter flows which should remove accumulated silt and prevent future deposition.
Partners in this project were Natural England and the Environment Agency, but the local community around the shallows has also been involved. Community consultation is ongoing, even after the main bulk of work is done, and local residents have been supportive of the scheme.
River Perry (Shropshire)
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A total of 600 trees were planted along the banks of the river to lessen erosion
Flowing south to meet the River Severn above Shrewsbury, the River Perry falls within two target areas for landscape conservation - the ‘River Severn Source to Sea’ Living Landscape (a Wildlife Trust project looking at conservation of the River Severn) and the ‘Meres and Mosses’ Nature Improvement Area. Intensive modification of the watercourse had reduced the Perry to little more than a drain, so an improvement scheme began, headed by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, to address local concerns about drainage and flooding.
Buffer strips (an area of land maintained in permentant vegetation) were created along the riverside to reduce run-off of pesticides and fertilisers. Troughs were installed to provide drinking water for livestock and keep cattle out of the river and 500m of fencing was erected to protect bankside habitats. 600 trees were then planted along the banks of the river to lessen erosion of the banks and create shade for spawning salmon in the water.
A community engagement and awareness programme ran alongside on the ground conservation work project and volunteers helped by taking part in a Riverfly survey, sampling aquatic invertebrates to assess the river's health. The Trust continues to work with land owners to maintain the work that's been carried out.
Itchen Navigation (Hampshire)
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The river provides an important habitat for many fish, including atlantic salmon, bullhead, grayling, brook lamprey and trout
The Itchen Navigation is part of an internationally important chalk river which is home to rare wildlife and is protected under European law. It is protected for conservation as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The Navigation was originally constructed in the late seventeenth century to carry chalk, aggregates, coal and timber from Winchester to the sea. New cuts and embankments were used to create a route that was navigable by the barges used to transport the goods. It was closed for use in 1869 and, without commercial use for more than a century, its waters now provide an important habitat for many fish, including atlantic salmon, bullhead, grayling, brook lamprey and trout. These fish provide food for the resident otters and water voles, and the kingfisher that nest in its banks.
In recent years the main channel became in need of repair. In 2008, a 5 year project began to conserve it, repair the disintegrating banks and eroded footpaths, restore degraded wildlife habitats and increase awareness of its special qualities.
The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust came together with other organisations to carry out the project with the aim of ‘securing the Itchen Navigation for the future’. A large number of volunteers, land owners and fishing clubs helped with restoration work.