Habitat work brings early signs of wildlife recovery across England

Brown trout are spawning on newly laid river gravel, and water voles have returned to places where they had been absent for almost 20 years. These are early results from habitat work in Hertfordshire’s chalk rivers.

The work forms part of England’s £25 million Species Survival Fund. A newly published evaluation records 4,800 hectares of habitat work across 20 projects, from Northumberland to Cornwall.

The fund paid for practical changes: reopening fish passages, planting hedges, creating ponds and managing existing habitats. The Heritage Fund reports that more than 13,000 volunteers took part, including almost 3,900 first-time volunteers.

There are limits to the headline area. Wavehill’s independent evaluation says most was existing habitat under active management; 654 hectares were created and 686 restored. Staff expect the full ecological benefits to take years, with woodland recovery particularly slow.

Even so, the programme has left more than freshly altered landscapes. Thousands of surveys, trained volunteers and continuing local partnerships provide people with tools to keep caring for these places and track what returns.

Sources

• National Lottery Heritage Fund — programme results and river recovery
• Wavehill — independent final evaluation, habitat breakdown and limitations