River Improvements show great economic and environmental returns
In 2012 the Westcountry Rivers Trust won funding to deliver over £4 million of restoration work over three years on river catchments across the South West and a recent independent economic evaluation has shown that for each £1 invested, between £1.9 and £4.5 has been...
The battle against Invasive species
Invasive species have been hitting the headlines recently. One of the main problem species in the South-West is Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera). As the name suggests, this plant originated in the Himalayas and was introduced to the UK by the Victorian plant...
And ‘weir’ off on the Lerryn!!
The river Lerryn rises near East Taphouse and flows through the beautiful Boconnoc estate before flowing into the Fowey estuary near Golant. The weir on the river Lerryn at Couch’s Mill was noted several years ago as a possible barrier to fish as part of our previous...
Westcountry Rivers Trust Appoints New Chief Executive
Westcountry Rivers Trust has announced the appointment of Dr Laurence Couldrick as Chief Executive Officer. Previously Director of Policy and Development at the Trust, which celebrated its 20th Anniversary last year, Laurence steps in to the position of CEO with a...
Restoring floodplain function on the Yealm
It's not often that the planets align in favour of re-wetting a floodplain but that's exactly what happened earlier this month along a stretch of the River Yealm in Devon. On a clear, sunny winter morning, the purr of a mini digger could be heard in the woods, playing...
Ecosystem Visualisation for Catchment Planning
The Westcountry Rivers Trust, in collaboration with DEFRA and the Rivers Trust, has developed a method for undertaking stakeholder-led spatial visualisation of ecosystem services provisioning areas across a catchment landscape. During this participatory process,...