Alexandra
Wales - 14-Dec-2006 - A new Environment Agency
report detailing ‘How our work helps biodiversity’
– reveals the conservation and ecology outcomes
for England and Wales since the turn of the century.
“Over the past five years the
Environment Agency has helped to create 1,200
hectares of new habitat in England and Wales –
the equivalent of ten Hyde Parks,” said the Environment
Agency’s Head of Conservation and Ecology, Paul
Raven.
“We’ve worked on almost 2,000
wildlife projects helping to save 39 threatened
species – including successfully hatching 70,000
endangered pearl mussels and attracting otters
back to every major city in England.”
Recent projects carried out
by the Environment Agency in the North East of
England include a pearl mussel captive breeding
programme at Kielder, wetland habitat creation
at Spring Gardens, West Auckland, and habitat
work in the River Aln catchment in Northumberland.
But equally important is the
Environment Agency’s day to day regulatory work,
which goes largely unseen by the public but is
vital to wildlife conservation.
“Enforcing hundreds of thousands
of environmental licences and permits, has ensured
that the £20 million we’ve put directly
into conservation work, has delivered truly positive
outcomes, particularly for water and wetland habitats,”
Dr Raven said.
“For example, the strict pollution
controls imposed in the last 30 years and regulated
by the Environment Agency over the past 10 years
have produced the cleanest waterways since before
the Industrial Revolution, and wildlife is now
really beginning to benefit.”
A major review of the past five
years, ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ shows
how the Environment Agency’s efforts to reduce
pollution, manage water resources and minimise
the risk of flooding has helped to protect special
wildlife sites and restore habitats.
“Governments across Europe,
have agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity by
20101,” Paul Raven said, “and the improving state
of Britain’s wildlife provides a good indication
of how the Environment Agency’s role as a regulator
of industry, is protecting and improving the environment.’’
‘’But we can’t be complacent.
There are major challenges ahead for our wildlife
in the face of climate change and the increasing
impact of non-native invasive species.’’
Ends
Notes to editor
North East biodiversity case
studies:
Pearl mussel captive breeding
programme
A captive breeding programme
at Kielder Hatchery involved the move of 40 pearl
mussels, under licence, from the River North Tyne
to the hatchery where the parasitic glochidea
stage infected salmonid host fish. This has helped
the successful breeding programme involving four
pearl mussel rivers in North Wales. We are planning
a national facility based at FBA Windermere, which
would help other Environment Agency regions in
the South West and Midlands to support their remaining
pearl mussel populations.
Partner: Aberdeen University
Accessing wetlands and beyond
In association with the Spring
Gardens Flood Alleviation scheme, and with funding
from the Local Levy Programme, Durham County Council
and the Heritage Lottery Fund, 12 hectares of
wetland habitat has been created. This includes
reedbed, seasonal and permanent ponds, species-rich
wet grassland and wet woodland. Aspects of the
project included work with the local community
and the development of an interactive website.
Partners: Heritage Lottery Fund,
Local Levy Programme, Durham County Council and
Spring Gardens Flood Alleviation scheme.
The River Aln Project
The Farming and Wildlife Advisory
Group (FWAG) were contracted to carry out a series
of farm visits in those parts of the Aln catchment
where the river habitat was degraded, and where
crayfish and salmonid numbers were known to be
falling. Using the Countryside Stewardship Scheme,
the project will produce £1.6 million of
environmental improvements over the next 10 years.
Work will include restoring 6 km of field margins
and 226 hectares of grassland, managed with organic
fertiliser, and 2.2 km of new fencing to protect
watercourses. A similar project was carried out
on the River Wansbeck to improve conditions for
white-clawed crayfish.
Partners: Farming and Wildlife
Advisory Group and Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
Key statistics that influence
the Environment Agency’s biodiversity remit:
• 391 species in the United
Kingdom are under threat.
• 39 species Biodiversity Actions Plans are the
lead responsibility of the Environment Agency.
• 45 habitats in the United Kingdom are under
threat.
• 5 habitat Biodiversity Action Plans are the
lead responsibility of the Environment Agency.
• 250,000 Environment Agency licences checked
to protect internationally important wildlife
sites (2000-2005).
• 100,000 Environment Agency licences control
water pollution.
• 25,000 Environment Agency licences that control
water abstraction.
• 11,000 river biology samples taken each year.
• 7,500 Environment Agency licences that control
waste management.
• 5,000 hectares of nationally important wildlife
land the Environment Agency owns.
• 3,000 fish surveys carried out each year.
• 1,600 Environment Agency licences that control
major industrial works.
Key Environment Agency achievements
over the past five years:
• 1,200 hectares of new wildlife
habitat created;
• almost 2,000 projects to create or improve wildlife
habitat;
• £20 million (rising to £70 million
with partners) spent on creating new habitat;
• 594 partnership projects underway in 2004/05
– a record for one year.
• 2,300km of improved river water quality.
• 16% of salmon rivers now have sustainable fish
stocks – up from 2%. Salmon and trout are now
returning to many rivers in which they were virtually
extinct including the Tyne and Wear, the Mersey,
the Yorkshire Ouse, the Trent, Taff and the Tees.
• With rivers the cleanest they’ve been since
before the Industrial Revolution, otters have
returned to every major city in England and increased
in numbers in traditional Welsh strongholds.
• Started work on raising water levels to re-wet
11,000 hectares of dried out wetlands.
• Water abstraction limits have been reduced and
management plans imposed on many valuable wildlife
rivers and protected wetlands – such as the River
Darent in Kent, River Derwent in Yorkshire, River
Taw in Devon, River Clywedog in Wales, and Redgrave
and Lopham Fen in East Anglia.
• Almost £1 billion spent by Water companies
– that the Environment Agency regulate – between
2000-2010 improving 1,700km of protected rivers
and more than 150 nationally important wetland
sites.
• 2nd edition of the Water Vole Conservation Handbook
providing the latest best-practice for conservation
groups, developers and land managers.
• New code for Britain’s most invasive plant species
– Japanese Knotweed.
• Successfully breeding endangered Freshwater
Pearl Mussels (BAP species) in captivity for future
translocation into the wild.
• Funded a network of 500 nesting boxes for barn
owls, with nearly 1,200 chicks successfully reared.
• Part-funded first national water shrew survey.
• Relocated very rare Vendace fish from 2 lakes
in Cumbria to a lake in Scotland where they had
gone extinct due to pollution.
Key Environment Agency goals
over the next five years:
• Completing work on raising
water levels to re-wet 11,000 hectares of dried
out wetland habitat in England and Wales by 2010.
• Create at least 1000 hectares of new wetlands
(Already in 2006 we’ve created three new wetlands
by breaching manmade tidal defences – augmenting
the threat of sea-level rise by re-creating natural
coastal protection, including: Alkborough Flats,
Lincolnshire – 440 ha; Alnmouth, Northumberland
– 9 ha; Wallasea, Essex – 115 ha; and Sladesbridge,
Cornwall –15 ha; Rye Harbour farm, East Sussex
– 117-hectare).
• Championing the value of maintaining and restoring
wetland and coastal habitat to offset the effects
of climate change (i.e. increased flooding and
storm intensity/proliferation), when new developments
are proposed.
• Improving 500km of riverbank habitat.
• Reduction of diffuse pollution – including soil,
manure, pesticides and fertilisers washing into
rivers, lakes and estuaries from farms, buildings
and roads.
• Programme of water company work that will tackle
water abstraction problems in rivers and wetlands.
• Creation of 100 hectares of saltmarsh and mudflat
annually to account for losses through sea-level
rise.
Environment Agency work boosts
biodiversity in Yorkshire
Alexandra Wales - 14-Dec-2006
- A new Environment Agency report detailing ‘How
our work helps biodiversity’ – reveals the conservation
and ecology outcomes for England and Wales since
the turn of the century.
“Over the past five years the
Environment Agency has helped to create 1,200
hectares of new habitat in England and Wales –
the equivalent of ten Hyde Parks,” said the Environment
Agency’s Head of Conservation and Ecology, Paul
Raven.
“We’ve worked on almost 2,000
wildlife projects helping to save 39 threatened
species – including successfully hatching 70,000
endangered pearl mussels and attracting otters
back to every major city in England.”
Recent projects carried out
by the Environment Agency in Yorkshire include
habitat work at Paull Holme Strays on the Humber
Estuary, Hull headwaters, Dearne Valley in South
Yorkshire, and Crimpsall Sluice on the River Don.
But equally important is the
Environment Agency’s day to day regulatory work,
which goes largely unseen by the public but is
vital to wildlife conservation.
“Enforcing hundreds of thousands
of environmental licences and permits, has ensured
that the £20 million we’ve put directly
into conservation work, has delivered truly positive
outcomes, particularly for water and wetland habitats,”
Dr Raven said.
“For example, the strict pollution
controls imposed in the last 30 years and regulated
by the Environment Agency over the past 10 years
have produced the cleanest waterways since before
the Industrial Revolution, and wildlife is now
really beginning to benefit.”
A major review of the past five
years, ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ shows
how the Environment Agency’s efforts to reduce
pollution, manage water resources and minimise
the risk of flooding has helped to protect special
wildlife sites and restore habitats.
“Governments across Europe,
have agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity by
20101,” Paul Raven said, “and the improving state
of Britain’s wildlife provides a good indication
of how the Environment Agency’s role as a regulator
of industry, is protecting and improving the environment.’’
‘’But we can’t be complacent.
There are major challenges ahead for our wildlife
in the face of climate change and the increasing
impact of non-native invasive species.’’
Ends
Notes to editor
Yorkshire biodiversity case
studies:
Paull Holme Strays
Around 80 hectares of new intertidal
habitat have been created by re-aligning flood
defences on the north side of the Humber estuary.
The result is improved flood protection, plus
new habitat for a range of internationally important
species of waders and wildfowl. New freshwater
habitat will help the local water vole population.
Improved access has recreational and amenity benefits
for the local community.
Partner: Defra.
Dearne Valley
Extensive work producing habitat
enhancement and improved management on various
washlands in the Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire.
As a result, 22 ha of grazing marsh, 3.5 ha of
fen and 0.5 km of ditches have been restored.
Partners: RSPB, Barnsley Metropolitan
Borough Council, Waste Recycling Environmental
Network (WREN), DEFRA, Yorkshire Forward and the
Heritage Lottery Fund.
Crimpsall sluice, River Don
An old concrete weir structure
has been replaced by a rock-chute which now allows
fish to pass upstream and downstream. A pond area
and backwater were also created for the benefit
of wetland wildlife, including water voles. Some
of the resident water voles were caught before
building work started and a captive breeding programme
started to increase numbers to a sustainable level.
Partners: Blackpool Zoo, Wildwood.
Hull headwaters
Europe’s most northerly chalk
stream, designated a SSSI, and its tributaries,
needed action to get its water and wetland habitats
into favourable condition. Work involved measures
to reduce erosion and siltation, creating ponds,
installing fencing along the river bank to improve
otter and water vole habitat and creating buffer
strips to reduce diffuse pollution. A Rivers Trust
project is planned to secure these improvements
into the longer-term.
Partners: Yorkshire Wildlife
Trust, English Nature, local landowners, angling
clubs and river keepers.
Key statistics that influence
the Environment Agency’s biodiversity remit:
• 391 species in the United
Kingdom are under threat.
• 39 species Biodiversity Actions Plans are the
lead responsibility of the Environment Agency.
• 45 habitats in the United Kingdom are under
threat.
• 5 habitat Biodiversity Action Plans are the
lead responsibility of the Environment Agency.
• 250,000 Environment Agency licences checked
to protect internationally important wildlife
sites (2000-2005).
• 100,000 Environment Agency licences control
water pollution.
• 25,000 Environment Agency licences that control
water abstraction.
• 11,000 river biology samples taken each year.
• 7,500 Environment Agency licences that control
waste management.
• 5,000 hectares of nationally important wildlife
land the Environment Agency owns.
• 3,000 fish surveys carried out each year.
• 1,600 Environment Agency licences that control
major industrial works.
Key Environment Agency achievements
over the past five years:
• 1,200 hectares of new wildlife
habitat created;
• almost 2,000 projects to create or improve wildlife
habitat;
• £20 million (rising to £70 million
with partners) spent on creating new habitat;
• 594 partnership projects underway in 2004/05
– a record for one year.
• 2,300km of improved river water quality.
• 16% of salmon rivers now have sustainable fish
stocks – up from 2%. Salmon and trout are now
returning to many rivers in which they were virtually
extinct including the Tyne and Wear, the Mersey,
the Yorkshire Ouse, the Trent, Taff and the Tees.
• With rivers the cleanest they’ve been since
before the Industrial Revolution, otters have
returned to every major city in England and increased
in numbers in traditional Welsh strongholds.
• Started work on raising water levels to re-wet
11,000 hectares of dried out wetlands.
• Water abstraction limits have been reduced and
management plans imposed on many valuable wildlife
rivers and protected wetlands – such as the River
Darent in Kent, River Derwent in Yorkshire, River
Taw in Devon, River Clywedog in Wales, and Redgrave
and Lopham Fen in East Anglia.
• Almost £1 billion spent by Water companies
– that the Environment Agency regulate – between
2000-2010 improving 1,700km of protected rivers
and more than 150 nationally important wetland
sites.
• 2nd edition of the Water Vole Conservation Handbook
providing the latest best-practice for conservation
groups, developers and land managers.
• New code for Britain’s most invasive plant species
– Japanese Knotweed.
• Successfully breeding endangered Freshwater
Pearl Mussels (BAP species) in captivity for future
translocation into the wild.
• Funded a network of 500 nesting boxes for barn
owls, with nearly 1,200 chicks successfully reared.
• Part-funded first national water shrew survey.
• Relocated very rare Vendace fish from 2 lakes
in Cumbria to a lake in Scotland where they had
gone extinct due to pollution.
Key Environment Agency goals
over the next five years:
• Completing work on raising
water levels to re-wet 11,000 hectares of dried
out wetland habitat in England and Wales by 2010.
• Create at least 1000 hectares of new wetlands
(Already in 2006 we’ve created three new wetlands
by breaching manmade tidal defences – augmenting
the threat of sea-level rise by re-creating natural
coastal protection, including: Alkborough Flats,
Lincolnshire – 440 ha; Alnmouth, Northumberland
– 9 ha; Wallasea, Essex – 115 ha; and Sladesbridge,
Cornwall –15 ha; Rye Harbour farm, East Sussex
– 117-hectare).
• Championing the value of maintaining and restoring
wetland and coastal habitat to offset the effects
of climate change (i.e. increased flooding and
storm intensity/proliferation), when new developments
are proposed.
• Improving 500km of riverbank habitat.
• Reduction of diffuse pollution – including soil,
manure, pesticides and fertilisers washing into
rivers, lakes and estuaries from farms, buildings
and roads.
• Programme of water company work that will tackle
water abstraction problems in rivers and wetlands.
• Creation of 100 hectares of saltmarsh and mudflat
annually to account for losses through sea-level
rise.
How Environment Agency helps biodiversity: A 5-year
report
Head Office Press Office - 14-Dec-2006
- Licence checks that protect internationally
important wildlife sites during the past five
years – 250,000.
Endangered freshwater pearl
mussels successfully hatched in captivity – 70,000.
Hectares of new wildlife habitat
created in England and Wales – 1,200.
Value of maintaining biological
diversity – Priceless.
A new Environment Agency report
detailing ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ –
reveals the conservation and ecology outcomes
for England and Wales since the turn of the century.
"Over the past five years
the Environment Agency has helped to create 1,200
hectares of new habitat in England and Wales –
the equivalent of ten Hyde Parks," said the
Environment Agency’s Head of Conservation and
Ecology, Paul Raven.
"We’ve worked on almost
2,000 wildlife projects helping to save 39 threatened
species – including successfully hatching 70,000
endangered pearl mussels and attracting otters
back to every major city in England."
But equally important is the
Environment Agency’s day to day regulatory work,
which goes largely unseen by the public but is
vital to wildlife conservation.
"Enforcing hundreds of
thousands of environmental licences and permits,
has ensured that the £20 million we’ve put
directly into conservation work, has delivered
truly positive outcomes, particularly for water
and wetland habitats," Dr Raven said.
"For example, the strict
pollution controls imposed in the last 30 years
and regulated by the Environment Agency over the
past 10 years have produced the cleanest waterways
since before the Industrial Revolution, and wildlife
is now really beginning to benefit."
A major review of the past five
years, ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ shows
how the Environment Agency’s efforts to reduce
pollution, manage water resources and minimise
the risk of flooding has helped to protect special
wildlife sites and restore habitats.
"Governments across Europe,
have agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity by
20101," Paul Raven said, "and the improving
state of Britain’s wildlife provides a good indication
of how the Environment Agency’s role as a regulator
of industry, is protecting and improving the environment.’’
With a proven link between environmental
quality and human health and well-being –several
of the wildlife habitat creation projects that
the Environment Agency has been involved with
have focused on urban regeneration. By giving
river corridors a new lease of life in towns and
cities, local people can enjoy improved protection
against flooding with the benefits of more wildlife
and access to a better environment.
For example, at Chinbrook Meadows,
in the London borough of Lewisham, the Ravensbourne
River has been restored to a more natural state.
By replacing straight concrete banks with a winding
natural riverbank adjoining leafy parkland – an
important wildlife habitat and a highly valued
community amenity has been created.
"The transformation of
Chinbrook Meadows is one of many urban regeneration
success stories, that have not only restored a
valuable habitat but even been credited with improving
house prices in the area," Dr Raven said.
"We know that otters are
now found in every major city in the country,
which underlines the benefits of measures to improve
water quality and wildlife habitats overall.
‘’But we can’t be complacent.
There are major challenges ahead for our wildlife
in the face of climate change and the increasing
impact of non-native invasive species.’’
Key statistics that influence
the Environment Agency’s biodiversity remit:
391 species in the United Kingdom
are under threat.
39 species Biodiversity Actions Plans are the
lead responsibility of the Environment Agency.
45 habitats in the United Kingdom are under threat.
5 habitat Biodiversity Action Plans are the lead
responsibility of the Environment Agency.
250,000 Environment Agency licences checked to
protect internationally important wildlife sites
(2000-2005).
100,000 Environment Agency licences control water
pollution.
25,000 Environment Agency licences that control
water abstraction.
11,000 river biology samples taken each year.
7,500 Environment Agency licences that control
waste management.
5,000 hectares of nationally important wildlife
land the Environment Agency owns.
3,000 fish surveys carried out each year.
1,600 Environment Agency licences that control
major industrial works.
Key Environment Agency achievements over the past
five years:
1,200 hectares of new wildlife
habitat created;
almost 2,000 projects to create or improve wildlife
habitat;
£20 million (rising to £70 million
with partners) spent on creating new habitat;
594 partnership projects underway in 2004/05 –
a record for one year.
2,300km of improved river water quality.
16% of salmon rivers now have
sustainable fish stocks – up from 2%. Salmon and
trout are now returning to many rivers in which
they were virtually extinct including the Tyne
and Wear, the Mersey, the Yorkshire Ouse, the
Trent, Taff and the Tees.
With rivers the cleanest they’ve
been since before the Industrial Revolution, otters
have returned to every major city in England and
increased in numbers in traditional Welsh strongholds.
Started work on raising water
levels to re-wet 11,000 hectares of dried out
wetlands.
Water abstraction limits have
been reduced and management plans imposed on many
valuable wildlife rivers and protected wetlands
– such as the River Darent in Kent, River Derwent
in Yorkshire, River Taw in Devon, River Clywedog
in Wales, and Redgrave and Lopham Fen in East
Anglia.
Almost £1 billion spent
by Water companies – that the Environment Agency
regulate – between 2000-2010 improving 1,700km
of protected rivers and more than 150 nationally
important wetland sites.
2nd edition of the Water Vole Conservation Handbook
providing the latest best-practice for conservation
groups, developers and land managers.
New code for Britain’s most
invasive plant species – Japanese Knotweed.
Successfully breeding endangered Freshwater Pearl
Mussels (BAP species) in captivity for future
translocation into the wild.
Funded a network of 500 nesting
boxes for barn owls, with nearly 1,200 chicks
successfully reared.
Part-funded first national water shrew survey.
Relocated very rare Vendace
fish from 2 lakes in Cumbria to a lake in Scotland
where they had gone extinct due to pollution.
Key Environment Agency goals
over the next five years:
Completing work on raising water levels to re-wet
11,000 hectares of dried out wetland habitat in
England and Wales by 2010.
Create at least 1000 hectares
of new wetlands (Already in 2006 we’ve created
three new wetlands by breaching manmade tidal
defences – augmenting the threat of sea-level
rise by re-creating natural coastal protection,
including: Alkborough Flats, Lincolnshire – 440
ha; Alnmouth, Northumberland – 9 ha; Wallasea,
Essex – 115 ha; and Sladesbridge, Cornwall –15
ha; Rye Harbour farm, East Sussex – 117-hectare).
Championing the value of maintaining
and restoring wetland and coastal habitat to offset
the effects of climate change (i.e. increased
flooding and storm intensity/proliferation), when
new developments are proposed.
Improving 500km of riverbank
habitat.
Reduction of diffuse pollution
– including soil, manure, pesticides and fertilisers
washing into rivers, lakes and estuaries from
farms, buildings and roads.
Programme of water company work
that will tackle water abstraction problems in
rivers and wetlands.
Creation of 100 hectares of saltmarsh and mudflat
annually to account for losses through sea-level
rise.
Note: The Environment Agency has professional
digital video footage available of Chinbrook Meadows
before and after rehabilitation work was carried
out.
