With the field season fast approaching the Floodplain Meadows Partnership along with partners the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, the River Restoration Centre and The Nene Rivers Trust are ramping up work on our Water Restoration Fund (WRF) project in Northamptonshire.
We have been awarded a WRF grant to produce a twenty-year strategy for restoration of river and floodplain habitats on the Rivers Nene, Ise and Tove. The three river valleys are nationally important for their remaining areas of species-rich floodplain meadows and floodplain grazing marsh, which supports substantial numbers of wading birds in the winter and spring. However, these areas of habitat are fragmented and in desperate need of reconnection and the rivers have varyingly moderate, poor or failed ecological, morphological, and chemical status.
The project takes an innovative, holistic approach to floodplain restoration, considering the river systems alongside species-rich floodplain meadows, floodplain grazing marsh and associated habitats. Our aim is to collect and collate a broad range of range of desk and field data to inform the strategy, determining the most appropriate locations for habitat restoration with an ambitious vision of bringing 2,000 ha of floodplain grassland and associated river habitat into favourable management by 2045.
Over 2026 the team will:
- Undertake an historical assessment of floodplain land-use and a desk study for other information across the three catchments to identify up to 2,000 ha of potential restoration sites.
- Work with existing farmer networks to establish interest level, options and opportunities, secure permissions to undertake survey work, and share findings.
- Undertake a river morphology and habitat assessment to identify opportunities for river restoration alongside floodplain habitat restoration to determine what and where would deliver the most benefits.
- Survey up to 1,000 ha of floodplain land, collecting vegetation, soil, hydrology and management information.
- Produce individual landowner reports containing information on restoration potential and funding sources.
- Produce a 20-year strategy for river, meadow and grazing marsh restoration that will help guide landscape scale funding bids to enable delivery.
Since the project began in January the Wildlife Trust have been collating desk study information from a wide range of sources to help target our survey effort. This includes local knowledge of existing sites and restoration projects, information on designated sites, priority habitats, and environmental stewardship schemes alongside records of key plant and bird species.
They have also been busy contacting landowners to introduce the project and secure permission to carry out fieldwork and have so far lined up 800 ha for the team to visit over the spring and summer.
Our soils team are due to start collecting data on soil chemistry, structure, and hydrology in the next few weeks, closely followed by the botanists and river restoration specialists. There’s lots to do, but we are excited by the powerful dataset we will build with this combination of environmental expertise and the positive outcomes it can drive for people and nature.
