Environment Agency Wales
has created a new habitat at Delta Lake
in Llanelli to benefit water voles and other
wildlife.
The work, which was
completed earlier this month, involved installing
‘coir’ (coconut fibre) rolls along 220 metres
of the lake’s shoreline.
The coir rolls were
pre-planted with reeds, irises and other
freshwater plants which once established
will provide food and shelter for invertebrates,
mammals and birds on the lake.
Over time the coir rolls
will help build up silt along the shore
as well as protect the banks from erosion,
enabling a natural vegetated fringe to develop.
The new plants will
be protected from disturbance by netting
for the first growing season, after which
the netting will be removed.
The Agency says water
voles present on Delta Lake will benefit
greatly from their new habitat. Environment
Agency Wales’ biodiversity officer Hilary
Foster said: “Llanelli is nationally a very
important water vole area and this new habitat
will help the currently small, isolated
population of voles at Delta Lake to expand
and thrive.
“It will provide better
shelter from weather and predators, a much
improved food supply and enable the voles
to move around the lake more easily as they’ll
have suitable habitat to hide in.”
The collaborative project
between Environment Agency Wales and Carmarthenshire
County Council will result in much-needed
new habitat along the lake edge.
Carmarthenshire County
Council’s biodiversity officer Isabel Macho
added, “The Council is very pleased to support
this project through our grant funding from
the Countryside Council for Wales as it
will improve the landscape for local residents’
enjoyment as well as significantly enhancing
the lake’s biodiversity value”.
Water voles are critically
endangered and are fully protected under
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Environment Agency Wales
has a key role in enhancing local environments
and water-related biodiversity. It aims
to minimise the impact on wildlife from
its own activities and the activities of
those it regulates. It helps wildlife by
controlling pollution, regulating abstraction
and delivering water-related habitats and
species improvements through its flood-risk
management work and other activities including
local-level collaborative projects.
The Water Framework
Directive sets new and more challenging
standards for Wales’ rivers and other water
bodies to benefit people and wildlife, placing
greater emphasis on the ecological status
of the water environment.
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Restoration of River
Nar heralds return of wildlife
Work is starting next
week at three sites on the Nar following
the November launch of the River Nar Restoration
Strategy.
Fish and other wildlife
will benefit from the improvements and it
will also improve public enjoyment.
The River Nar Restoration
Strategy partners –Norfolk Rivers Internal
Drainage Board, the Environment Agency,
Natural England and local landowners – have
announced the very first habitat restoration
schemes will get underway on Monday 28 February.
At Narborough, Castle
Acre and West Lexham, diggers will be used
to restore natural features such as pools,
meanders, and shallow gravel areas in the
river channel and reed beds along the banks.
Dilapidated weirs will be removed to allow
more dynamic flows and reduce the build
up of silt in the river.
Fish such as eels, brown
trout and sea trout as well as water voles,
rare dragonflies and otters will benefit
from the schemes along the River Nar, most
of which is protected as a Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) status.
Chris Bell, technical
officer for the Environment Agency, said:
“Over the generations there has been significant
deterioration to some areas of the river
but I am delighted that we are now at the
beginning of a focused effort to reverse
this decline and bring life back to the
whole of the River Nar.”
Chris added: “We are
using some exciting low-cost techniques
for maximum value – it’s a great example
of anglers’ rod licence money contributing
back to local fisheries and the wildlife
they support as well as providing better
amenity value for the public.”
Environment Agency staff
and local contractors will carry out the
work, guided by environmental scientist
Dr. Nigel Holmes and the River Restoration
Centre.
Jen Small, Natural England’s
SSSI Adviser for the River Nar, said: “The
River Nar is recognised as a SSSI because
it is a rare combination of a chalk stream
and a fenland river. These practical projects
give us the opportunity to show-case techniques
for restoring river features such as pools
and riffles which improve the habitat for
plants and animals living along the river,
enhancing the wonderful natural setting
for the Nar Valley Way and providing opportunities
for good fishing.”
Tony Goodwin, Engineer
to Norfolk Rivers Internal Drainage Board
said: “The implementation of parts of the
Whole River Restoration Plan is an important
step towards the development of a dynamic
river, without compromising flood protection.”
The Nar is one of the
few remaining rivers in East Anglia which
supports a run of rare sea trout; its banks
provide a sanctuary for water voles and
a hunting ground for otters. Its upper reaches,
under the control of the IDB resemble a
Hampshire chalk stream, with dace, chub
and brown trout on its gravel runs.
Below Narborough the
river’s character changes as it winds towards
Lynn between high floodbanks, maintained
by the Environment Agency, towards its outfall
into the tidal Great Ouse.
For more information
about the River Nar SSSI please contact
Heather Duncan of Natural England on 0300
060 0555 (during normal office hours).
Notes for editors
The river’s complexities of riffles, pools,
gravel beds and meanders, lush bankside
vegetation and summer cattle-grazed traditional
meadows creates a very rare and nationally
important wildlife hotspot. Home to more
than 78 river plants, including the beautiful
southern marsh orchid, the river also supports
an outstanding 12 different dragonflies
and kingfisher, grey wagtail, reed warblers
and willow and marsh tits.
