Boost for waterway volunteer schemes

The Trust will use the £350,000 to employ two staff to encourage volunteers to get involved in projects aimed at improving habitats for various species in Huddersfield, Rochdale and Birmingham.

The three-year project has been made possible through a grant of £249,000 from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and £100,000 from the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Martha Oddy, of the Canal & River Trust, said: “One of our aims is to encourage people to take active long-term ownership of their local canal or river and help us pioneer a more integrated model of environmental and community engagement. We want to shape the best possible future for our waterways and the thoughts and involvement of the people that use them on a daily basis is essential to that success.”

Projects will include:

Linking isolated populations of notable plant species to create a longer habitat resilient to environmental changes;

Implementing a tree and hedge management plan to improve water quality;

Improving water quality through targeting potentially polluting discharges;

Removing invasive and non-native plant species to improve conditions for key species.

A Trust spokesman said: “Although our waterways were not built for wildlife, areas such as the three chosen are recognised as important biodiversity sites and now support a wide variety of plants and animals, some of which are now quite rare, such as floating water plantain, otters and water voles.”