CONTENTS 

DIRECTORS COMMENTS 3

TRUST NEWS 4

PROJECT FOCUS:

THE AARC PROJECT 8

PROJECT FOCUS:

COUNTRY SPORTS 10

PROJECT FOCUS:

WATER PROJECT 12

PROJECT FOCUS:

DEFRA PROJECTS 14

PROJECT FOCUS:

UPSTREAM THINKING 16

FUNDRAISING NEWS 18

WRT ONLINE 19

THANKS TO SUPPORTERS 19

Cover Photo: A winter dawn on the Exe Estuary (Nick Paling)

Editor: Nick Paling

Contributors: Dylan Bright, Laurence Couldrick, Bruce Stockley,

Adrian Dowding, Toby Russell, Hazel Kendall, Nick Paling, Viv Daly

Andrew Pym and Simon Steer.

© Copyright: Westcountry Rivers Trust, 2011.

The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of

the Westcountry Rivers Trust or the trustees thereof and

responsibility cannot be accepted for opinions herein. Whilst

advertising is welcomed, such advertising and/or logos do not

constitute Westcountry Rivers Trust endorsements of the products,

services or companies involved.

The Westcountry Rivers Trust is a registered charitable limited 

company (Charity No: 1135007, Company No: 06545646).

Printed by

A frosty morning on the river 

 

 

COMMENT 

A New Era Dawns in Conservation

3

For those involved in the conservation movement in the UK, the

International Year of Biodiversity 2010 was one of even greater

significance than we could have predicted.

However, rather than as a year of celebrating and promoting our

native biodiversity in the UK, many will remember 2010 as the

year we appear to have failed to meet the fundamental

objectives of the Rio Convention on Biodiversity (1992) and the

UK Biodiversity Action Plan; namely to ‘significantly reduce the

current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010’. Furthermore, 2010 will

also be remembered as the year in which we realised that we are

going to fall well short of the EU’s Water Framework Directive

target of securing all of our lakes and rivers in ‘good ecological

status’ by 2015 (we are actually more likely to achieve 40%).

In 2011, with the calls for a change of approach to the

conservation of our natural environment growing ever louder it

seems that it has, in fact, taken a shift in our economic and

political landscape to precipitate the change that many felt was

needed. With the country’s economy in upheaval and the new

government resolved to see in a new age of austerity and

localism, it is now clear that the present levels of conservation

funding and management delivered by national government

bodies is not to be maintained.

Against this backdrop of economic cuts and the devolution of

responsibility for conservation, the new UK Government have

now outlined their vision for the future funding and delivery of

nature conservation in a draft White Paper on the Natural

Environment. Due to be published in the Spring of 2011, it is

likely to be a challenging and comprehensive document that sets

out a new vision for the delivery of environmental conservation,

but it may also leave a lot of questions unanswered and many

contentious issues unresolved.

What the UK Government’s white paper on the natural

environment will acknowledge is that, while our traditional ‘hold

what we have’ approach to nature conservation may have

averted an ecological catastrophe in the UK, we do now need to

adopt a more proactive, whole‐landscape approach if we are to

successfully conserve our natural heritage into the future. This

realisation, coupled with our new economic and political climate,

means that, no matter what happens, the planning, delivery and

funding of conservation in the UK will, from 2011 onwards, begin

to undergo significant change.

With such great changes afoot, we believe that the Westcountry

Rivers Trust is now well positioned to lead the way in meeting

the environmental challenges we all face. While many seek to

define ‘Big Society’, we are comfortable in the knowledge that

we have been the living embodiment of ‘Big Society’ for the last

15 years. The Trust believes the most powerful tool in our 

conservation armoury is the active, informed and local

partnership between those that manage the land and those that

benefit from its good management. There is a place for

regulating damaging land management practices, ‘polluter pays’,

but we feel that there is much more scope to reward good practice

using funding from the direct beneficiaries in a very simple, cost

effective, local transaction. This ‘provider is paid’ model is a more

positive one in which all parties learn to revise their views on the

value of the natural environment and the services it provides.

At present, there are a number of ‘ecosystem services’, which we

derive from our land: food production, recreation, wildlife

conservation, drinking water, flood/drought alleviation etc. Of

these, food production dominates, being the only service with a

well‐established market for the product, while the others tend to

be delivered in a more haphazard way without proper spatial

planning and without sufficient funding.

Predictably, the outcome of this system is a significant imbalance

in the delivery of ecosystem services towards those driven by

market forces and this jeopardises the provision of the other

essential services for society as a whole. The challenge faced by

organisations like the Westcountry Rivers Trust, who wish to re‐

balance this equation to deliver all the environmental services

required by society, is that to be successful, we will have to

completely re‐balance the way that existing market forces and

regulation control land‐use. This is very easily said, but as you

might imagine, quite complicated…..

As regular readers know, however, the Trust is a ‘doing’

organization and it is our practice to try and light a candle rather

than just stand and curse the darkness. Accordingly, we have set

about undertaking this re‐balancing act in earnest. The Trust has

recently embarked on two ground‐breaking, high‐profile projects

that are being closely scrutinised by the environmental community

at the highest level, nationally and internationally: the EU funded

Wetted Land: the Assessment, Techniques & Economics of

Restoration (WATER) Project (see p12)and the South West Water‐

funded Upstream Thinking Project (see p16).

It is not yet clear whether the Government’s 2011 white paper will

achieve the step‐change in our approach to nature conservation

that many are calling for. All we can hope is that when we reflect

on the events of last year, during those that lie ahead, we will see

that, perhaps more than any year since 1981, 2011 has marked the

transition from the prevailing paradigm of top‐down species and

habitat driven policy into a new conservation era. This shift in the

balance of conservation approaches will (we hope) ultimately see

the dominant protectionist conservation philosophies integrated

into a more balanced, whole‐ecosystem and landscape‐level

approach that will reap far greater successes in the conservation of

our natural environments, while also ensuring the food security of

the country in a changing world.

Dr Dylan Bright 

Trust Director

Read my full article on the Trust's vision for the future of conservation at

www.wrt.org.uk/wrt‐vision.pdf

 

 

TRUST NEWS 

Spring in our step after long winter IT  HAS  BEEN  A  LONG  AND  HARD  WINTER  ACROSS  THE  WESTCOUNTRY,  BUT 

SURELY THERE HAS NEVER BEEN SUCH A STRONG SENSE THAT THIS SPRING WILL 

HERALD A YEAR OF UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS ON THE WESTCOUNTRY’S RIVERS.  

The winter of 2010‐11 has been hard at times, but it has also seen the Westcountry

Rivers Trust engaging in several new initiatives and forging ever stronger ties with other

organisations around the UK, Europe and the World.

At home in the Westcountry, the Trust are now well established as key partners in the

Upstream Thinking Partnership along with South West Water, Devon Wildlife Trust,

Cornwall Wildlife Trust, the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) and the Exmoor

Mires Project. We have also been working hard to improve our working relationships

with the Environment Agency and Natural England; the main government bodies

responsible for environmental protection, making sure that we are well placed to

contribute to the Government's ‘Big Society’ initiative in 2011 and beyond.

Further afield, we continue to work in

partnership with environmental and

conservation organisations from all over

Europe and, in February, we were

delighted to host a two‐day meeting with

a twenty‐strong delegation representing

a wide array of river management,

environmental and conservation bodies

from China (see left).  

WRT staff member wins 

third ART Award 

The Association of Rivers Trusts Autumn 

Seminar on ‘adaptive land use for flood 

alleviation’ was hosted by Eden Rivers 

Trust in October 2010 at The Tufton Arms 

Hotel on the banks of the River Eden in 

Appleby, Cumbria. 

As well as the very interesting discussion 

about the seminar’s main subject, 

Westcountry Rivers Trust’s very own 

Laurence Couldrick also scooped the 

Trust’s 3rd ART award for his excellent 

contribution to science and innovation. 

4

Spring is in full swing 

Dylan Bright addresses Chinese delegation  Laurence receives his award 

 

 

TRUST NEWS 

Bats boost business for Tamar Consulting AFTER A WINTER OF UNPRECEDENTED ACTIVITY, TAMAR CONSULTING, THE FINANCIAL TRADING ARM OF THE WESTCOUNTRY 

RIVERS TRUST, IS LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER VERY PRODUCTIVE AND BUSY YEAR IN 2011.  

Tamar Consulting is a team of highly experienced ecologists with a unique blend of survey and research expertise combined with a

thorough understanding of environmental issues. The consultancy is wholly owned by the Westcountry Rivers Trust and contributes its

profits annually to the Trust, making it a very worthy choice for conscientious companies requiring environmental services.

Despite the tough economic climate, Tamar Consulting is thriving and, in December, became one of just six approved suppliers of

ecological surveys to South West Water. Furthermore, earlier in the year, the team also won a new contract to provide baseline surveys

and impact assessments for a series of solar parks across the south west region.

Unlike previous years, the steady stream of phase one habitat and bat surveys also showed no sign of abating during the winter (despite

the weather) and the team’s ability to deliver this work was greatly enhanced in 2010 with the award of a full bat licence to staff member

Dee Medlicott. In addition to habitat and bat surveys, Tamar Consulting also undertook a series of marine ecological impact assessments

across the South West in 2010 and began to offer fish surveys; an initial foray in this area that they are looking to build upon in 2011.

For more information about Tamar Consulting please contact info@tamarconsulting.co.uk or visit tamarconsulting.org 

New Forum for hatcheries To promote the sharing of best working practices and to foster strong working

partnerships between conservation hatcheries across the UK we have established an

online forum. The Hatchery Forum is focused on regulation, recording and reporting

protocols, broodstock management, fish treatment, stripping and egg handling, rearing

on and stocking criteria, and hatchery design.

On the 4th January 2011 the Forum members met for the second time. All of the

hatcheries were able to report successful brood stock collection and all felt that there

were great prospects for a new fish rearing year ahead.

For more information about any of the forum's member hatcheries visit the Forum

website (www.hatcheryforum.org.uk) or email us on info@hatcheryforum.org.uk. 

Bumper year ahead at 

Endsleigh Hatchery 

Endsleigh Hatchery, which is managed by 

the Westcountry Rivers Trust, released 

forty‐thousand salmon fry into the River 

Tamar in 2010 and it looks likely that this 

number will be increased to nearly a 

hundred‐thousand in 2011.  

For more information contact Bruce 

Stockley at the Trust on 01579 372140 or 

email bruce@wrt.org.uk. 

5

 

 

The Westcountry Rivers Trust, in

collaboration with River Taw riparian

owners and the Environment Agency, have

secured funding in excess of £400,000 to

undertake the replacement of Head Weir

on the River Mole, one of the main

tributaries of Devon’s River Taw.

The project was designed to replace the old

weir and fish pass with a state‐of‐the‐art

pool and riffle system that will be the first

of its kind in Britain.

With the funding in place, the Westcountry

Rivers Trust commissioned the South West

Environment Agency’s Operations Delivery

Team to undertake the work and, in spring

2010, work began to remove the old weir.

The old Head Weir (inset) was a 2m high

Weir today, gone tomorrow AFTER SIX MONTHS OF COMPLEX AND SOMETIMES ARDUOUS WORK, DECEMBER 2010 SAW THE OPENING OF THE NEW HEAD 

WEIR ‐ A SPECTACULAR AND INNOVATIVE STRUCTURE THAT WILL TRANSFORM THE ECOLOGY OF THE RIVER MOLE. 

Over recent years the Trust have

conducted an extensive series of habitat

surveys on the river above the weir and will

be undertaking future monitoring to see if

the weir’s removal has been of benefit to

fish populations found there.

For more information on the Head Weir

project please contact info@wrt.org.uk

smooth‐faced concrete shute that, despite

having a fish pass on it, was regarded by

many as an almost complete barrier to fish

migration up the River Mole to the large

spawning and nursery areas that are known

to exist in its headwaters.

The new pool and riffle system, which is now

complete, is a 60 metre‐long run of

embedded tombstone‐shaped boulders set

at 5m intervals to create a stepped‐pool

system with a 1 in 30 gradient (below).

The structure will create a diverse array of

flow and channel characteristics that will

open the river up to fish migration in high

and low flow conditions and yet still serve to

divert some of the flow into the mill leat of

the historic Head Mill (the original reason for

there being a weir on the site).

6

TRUST NEWS 

The new Head Weir being built 

 

 

Great prospects for new season with the Angling Passport WITH MORE FANTASTIC FISHING BEATS IN THE WESTCOUNTRY ANGLING PASSPORT THAN EVER BEFORE, THE WESTCOUNTRY 

RIVERS TRUST IS LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER GREAT FISHING SEASON IN 2011.  

7

TRUST NEWS 

Unlike in previous years, the opening day

of the trout fishing season was ushered in

by a series of beautiful sunny days this year

and what better way could there be to start

what we hope will be our best season yet..!

Originally launched as part of the Trust’s

Angling 2000 Project, it has now been two

years since the Westcountry Angling

Passport was re‐launched in its current

form and it must now be one of the best

ways to access the fantastic fishing

opportunities the Westcountry has to offer.

One highlight in the 2011 Passport is the

inclusion for the second year of the Duchy of

Cornwall beats on Dartmoor, which provide

some of the best salmon, sea trout and

brown trout fishing in the UK. The Duchy of

Cornwall beats include several miles of the

River Dart’s most wild and unspoilt reaches,

which can all be explored for as little as £10

(4 Tokens) a day.

In addition to the Passport, which now

contains around 40 great fishing beats

across the Westcountry, the WRT Booking

Office also offers you easy access to another

six day‐ticket beats on prime sections of

rivers such as the Tamar, Okement, Lyd,

Walkham, Avon and Yealm.

The Westcountry Rivers Trust retains its

passionate belief that our rivers are a

wonderful natural resource that should be

protected and managed for the benefit of

everyone. By working with angling

associations, wildlife groups and farmers

to improve the river corridor, while at the

same time helping land‐owners and river

owners market their fishing, we believe

that we have developed a fisheries

management scheme that both improves

our rivers health and gives people an

affordable and enjoyable way to enjoy

them.

So, if you want to spend a day fishing on

one of these beautiful rivers, don’t delay,

visit the Westcountry Angling Passport

website (www.westcountryangling.com)

and see how easy it is to get started.

 

 

FISHERIES SURVEYS ARE A WALKOVER..! AARC PROJECT MANAGER BRUCE STOCKLEY HAS BEEN WORKING TO PERFECT THE TRUST’S METHODS FOR FISHERIES WALKOVER SURVEYS AND NOW HE  IS HOPING TO TRAIN VOLUNTEERS TO COMPLETE THEM FOR THE WHOLE OF THE RIVER FOWEY 

PROJECT FOCUS 

The Fowey River Association (FRA) and the

Westcountry Rivers Trust’s Atlantic

Aquatic Resource Conservation (AARC)

project have now started the 2010 Fowey

Walkover Survey initiative in January 2011.

Our joint goal is to map all the different

habitats along the whole of the Fowey.

Why do it? 

The first step in good management of all

our activities on the River Fowey is to find

out what is there. Of course many locals

know their stretch of the river like the back

‐of‐their‐hand, but by walking the entire

river together we can find out what areas

most need our help, and have the maps

and evidence to show us how we can best

focus our efforts to help the river.

How do we do the walkovers? 

The first step is for volunteers to undertake

a days training on the Fowey with

Westcountry Rivers Trust. This training

shows volunteers how to identify different

habitats and how to record them on the

provided maps. Then the FRA organises

the volunteers and finds out what areas of

the river they would like to survey. Once

permissions to access the land are granted

then the volunteers go out in pairs and

mark the habitats out on the blank maps

they have been provided with.

Using GIS to map the data 

GIS stands for Geographical Information

System, and is a database that works a bit

like a map. Once the volunteers have

completed their maps, they are sent to the

Westcountry Rivers Trust, where they are

scanned and entered into their GIS

computers back at their office.

Amazingly high quality maps can then be

made from this database, but that is just

the start. Any changes on the river can be

detected by future surveys. For example,

the ability of different tributaries of the

river to support Salmon from eggs to

smolts can be calculated. Using this data,

compelling arguments can be made for why

river restoration should be carried out – a

great resource to secure future funding for

the river!

How do you get involved in the surveys? 

If you live near the River Fowey and love

this great Westcountry river, whether you

are an angler or not, you can help to do

these surveys. A river survey is a great way

to enjoy the river, and as it is always carried

out in pairs, a very sociable way to spend

the afternoon.

Walkover Survey training days began in

March, and the river walkover surveys will

begin in earnest over Easter 2011.

Contact us and get involved 

To find out how you can get involved in this

survey work, and to make a significant

contribution to the restoration of one of the

Westcountry’s great rivers, please get in

touch with the Westcountry Rivers Trust

project manager Bruce Stockley on 01579

372140 or at bruce@wrt.org.uk.

8

Prime habitat on the River Okement 

Image: Simon Steer 

Learning how to do a walkover survey on the River Barle 

 

 

AARC PROJECT 

AARC Project Launch

On Thursday, 2 September 2010 the Westcountry Rivers Trust launched the €3.8 million

‘Atlantic Aquatic Resource Conservation’ (AARC) project at Reed Hall, Exeter.

Partners travelled from France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, to celebrate the start of the

three‐year project, conceived and led by WRT, bringing together a diverse range of

organisations from across the rugged Atlantic coast of Europe to improve our rivers.

The launch was an evening of great entertainment, talks from four excellent guest

speakers and a great deal of discussion.

“What I like most about this project is the use of DNA fingerprinting on migrating fish like Sea 

Trout. This kind of approach has the potential to make a real difference to the long‐term 

conservation of these iconic fish.” Professor Ken Whelan, Director , Atlantic Salmon Trust

AARC Launch Speakers (L‐R: Ken Whelan, Ian 

Johnson, Dylan Bright, Ted Potter) 

 

 

COUNTRY SPORTS HAVE A BIG PULL 

PROJECT FOCUS 

“The new website will be the gateway for South West country sports, where visitors will be able to rese

to the region. We have already received lots of positive media interest in the website, as it’s the first of

great news and very encouraging...If you currently own a fishing business that you feel is well matche

    industry then we are keen to hear from you. Businesses will receive a full page detailed listin

        for 12 months, so it’s a win‐win situation. We can also offer free web page adverts

                      don’t currently have a website of their own.” 

THE  NEW  EUROPEAN‐FUNDED  COUNTRY  SPORTS  PROJECT  HAS  BEEN  DESIGNED  TO  ENSURE  THAT  THE SOUTH WEST REGION, WHICH IS RENOWNED FOR ITS UNIQUE LANDSCAPE AND COUNTRYSIDE, BECOMES THE PREMIER TOURISM DESTINATION FOR COUNTRY SPORTS AND SUPPLIERS OF LOCAL GAME. 

The Country Sports South West tourism project has brought the

Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) and the British Association of

Shooting and Conservation (BASC) together to work in partnership

for the first time.

Funded initially for three years the project aims to ensure that the

South West region, which is renowned for its unique landscape and

countryside, becomes the premier tourism destination for country

sports and celebrated for its game produce.

The project also aims to improve the visitor experience and

participation in country sports while creating sustainable rural

tourism businesses, which can respond to the future challenges

and exploit new opportunities.

The project is now well underway, but there is still plenty of time

for rural fishing businesses to make contact with the development

team to find out how this project could add value to their business.

Pretty much any business within the rural sector (new or existing)

across the SW region can get involved in the project and take‐up

the marketing opportunities we offer to add value to their own

marketing and products.

If a business is considering developments into the country sports

area, we can provide advice on setting up a shoot, angling, or any

other countryside activity such as guiding services, deer stalking,

equine/hunting, wildfowling and photographic opportunities etc.

In addition, one of our tourism experts can advise on business

The anticipation of small stream trout fishing 

Image: Andrew Pym 

 

 

COUNTRY SPORTS PROJECT 

arch, plan and book their break  

ts kind for the region, which is  

 to the needs of the tourism  

g on the website  

  f businesses  

development and help businesses to ensure that their product

matches the expectations of the country sports visitor.

We will also be developing a database of suppliers, processors and

food services that incorporate game and fish into their business

and offer a supplier‐matching service for those wishing to develop

into these areas.

Other services include access to specialist training, networking,

case studies of best practice and visits to demonstration sites. We

will also give assistance to help farms accurately assess and justify

diversification into the country sports areas.

A consumer marketing and PR programme will launch in Spring

2011 and will focus on the various country sports and activities

available around the South West. This will

also include attendance at key farming

and consumer shows and arranging

consumer taster days. In addition,

a website aimed at first time and existing country sport visitors will

launch in spring 2011 (www.countrysportssouthwest.co.uk).

South West rural fishing businesses who are interested in what the

project may offer them are invited to make contact with Toby

Russell (email: toby@wrt.org.uk; phone: o1579 372140), the

Country Sports Development Officer (Angling) at the Westcountry

Rivers Trust who will able to give them expert advice about the

country sports tourism industry, receive specific business

development advice and find out more about the various

marketing opportunities associated with the project.

The Country Sports South West Project is part of the Rural 

Development Programme for England Project (RDPE), which is  

   jointly funded by the EU and DEFRA, and is a partnership  

      between the British Association for Shooting and  

   Conservation (BASC) and the Westcountry Rivers Trust. 

 

 

WATER PROJECT WETTED LAND: THE ASSESSMENT, TECHNIQUES   ECONOMICS OF RESTORATION 

THE WATER PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A MARKET BASED CATCHMENT RESTORATION SCHEME WHICH WILL BE BASED ON A PAYMENTS FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (PES) MODEL AND AIMS TO IDENTIFY BOTH DELIVERY AND FUNDING MECHANISMS TO LEVER PRIVATE INVESTMENT FOR CATCHMENT RESTORATION  

Across the South West region the river systems are dominated by

the underlying granite‐based geology and any rain that falls over

the land makes it’s way to our issues and streams predominantly

over the surface, as run off, or through the surface soils. This means

that the condition of the land surface generally dictates the quality

and quantity of water flowing in our rivers.

During past Trust projects we have targeted our work on river

catchments using Environment Agency monitoring data and local

advice. While this has helped us focus our efforts on specific

catchments, it has not allowed us to target specific sub‐catchments

and certainly not to pick out smaller high‐risk areas.

Through the WATER project, which is funded by the Interreg IVA

England (Channel) France fund, the Trust has been using and

developing a series of mapping tools created by the University of

Durham to assess fine sediment risk. By bringing together detailed

data on the elevation of each 5m by 5m block within a catchment,

as well as rainfall data and land cover data (showing features such

as arable, pasture, woodland, etc) we can start to establish

potential problem areas by running a model called SCIMAP.

When we run the model over catchments such as the Upper Exe we

can start to identify areas where the likelihood of soil eroding is

high (i.e. steep long bare slopes with high rainfall) and likelihood of

the eroded soil reaching the river is high (i.e. steep slopes next to

the river). These areas that have high erosion risk and high

connectivity risk are highlighted red on the SCIMAP sediment risk

map (shown right) and are therefore identified as requiring further

investigation as to the cause and possible solutions.

12

PROJECT FOCUS 

 

 

In order to use SCIMAP in other Trust projects, such as the

Upstream Thinking Project (funded by South West Water), we

are also developing this model further to create a mapping tool

that will generate a series of mapped outputs, including the

standard SCIMAP outputs of erosion risk and connectivity, but

also a new wetted areas map.

From these maps we can then develop a third map which shows

us two important types of areas within our river catchments;

1 – Areas where erosion can enter the river that are set away

from the river and so can be buffered by a wetland

2 – Areas where erosion can enter the river that are immediately

adjacent to the river and so cannot be buffered by a wetland

With these two areas we can then do two things; firstly we can

overlay this map with the agricultural land classification map so

we get an idea of the impact on food security by altering land

management on these areas; and secondly by working with

farmers we can establish the condition of these areas and use

payments from sources such as carbon offsetting funds, to

abandon type 1 areas, or South West Water funds, to switch to

extensive systems in type 2 areas.

The Trust hopes that, by developing tools such as these which

aid (but importantly do not dictate) our targeting, we can

improve the use of funding, improve farmer profits and improve

the river catchment making it a more sustainable and equitable

ecosystem.

WATER Project Conference 2011, St Malo

On the 9th and 10th of December 2010, Fauna and Sustainable

Development (FSD) and the Hunting Federation of Ille et Vilaine

(FDC35), two of the partners in the European Fund for Regional

Development‐funded WATER Project, hosted the 2011 WATER

Project Conference at the Congress Centre of the Palais du Grand

Large in St Malo, France.

Speakers from France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium

were all invited to report on the achievements of their projects to

develop the social, economic and environmental value of wetted

lands. Political decision makers from the European Commission

and the French government were also invited to the Conference

to present their vision for a sustainable European regional

development policy.

On the second day of the conference delegates were invited to

visit FDC35’s Boulienne Farm and tour the Châteauneuf

marshlands; a spectacular wetland created as part of the WATER

Project.

13

The Châteauneuf marshlands, Brittany, France  

English delegates enjoy the wetland tour 

The old town of St Malo, Brittany 

 

 

PROJECT FOCUS 

14

TAMAR TO HOST AVON DTC 

The Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC)

project is a joint DEFRA, Environment

Agency (EA) and Welsh Assembly

Government (WAG) initiative working in

three river catchments: the River Avon in

Hampshire , the River Wensum in Norfolk

and the River Eden in Cumbria.

The principal aim of the project is to show

that it is possible to reduce the impact of

agricultural diffuse water pollution on

ecological function in a cost‐effective way,

while maintaining sustainable food

production, through the implementation

of multiple on‐farm mitigation measures.

The DTC project aims to achieve this goal

by detecting any shifts in the levels of the

most ecologically‐significant pollutants

resulting from targeted on‐farm measures

at field to farm scales and assessing their

effects on ecosystem function.

In 2010, the Avon DTC group recognised

that the work being done by the West‐

WESTCOUNTRY  RIVERS  TRUST  HAVE  TEAMED‐UP  WITH  THE  HAMP‐SHIRE AVON DEMONSTRATION TEST CATCHMENT CONSORTIUM  IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEMONSTRATE THAT CHANGING LAND MANAGEMENT AND FARMING PRACTICES CAN IMPROVE WATER QUALITY IN OUR RIVERS.  

country Rivers Trust through the Upstream

Thinking initiative, funded by South West

Water, represented a significant

opportunity for them to perform their

studies on a river system where there are

not only huge problems due to agricultural

pollution, but where there are also

significant funds available to undertake

large‐scale and comprehensive mitigation

works to reduce it.

In light of the clearly complementary work

that both groups were about to embark

upon, the Avon DTC group (lead by

Professor Adrian Collins from ADAS) and

the Westcountry Rivers Trust have teamed‐

up to undertake a ground‐breaking whole‐

catchment study to demonstrate the link

between improved land management and

farming practices, and improvements in

raw water quality in our rivers.

The study, which will be undertaken on

Caudworthy Water, is due to begin in spring

2011. For more information contact

hazel@wrt.org.uk or phone the Trust on

(01579) 372140.

 

 

STRATEGIC EVIDENCE PARTNERSHIP 

THE STRATEGIC EVIDENCE PARTNERSHIP PROJECT IS A PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE BETWEEN DEFRA AND THE AS‐SOCIATION OF RIVERS TRUSTS IN CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH COLLEAGUES FROM THE STATUTORY AGENCIES, THE WATER INDUSTRY AND THREE OF THE RIVERS TRUSTS.  

The overarching objective of the SEP 

project is to assess the ability of current 

policy instruments (specifically legislation 

and agri‐environment incentive payments) 

to deliver Water Framework Directive 

(WFD) water quality targets and whether 

private sector funding has a future role to 

play in complementing publicly funded 

incentive payments. 

The project will focus on three study 

areas; the Tamar, Severn and Wye 

catchments. In each area, a series of  

meetings will be held with the relevant 

interest groups to discuss the nature and 

extent of water quality problems and to 

debate how measures might best be 

targeted to mitigate these problems.  

Following this process, in‐depth research 

interviews will be conducted to determine 

whether the current suite of public sector‐

managed cross‐compliance regulations and 

agri‐environment schemes can deliver the 

necessary targeted measures. A sample of 

respondents will be selected from the  

farming community, the Environment 

Agency, Natural England and all other 

relevant organisations. In particular, 

interviews will also be held with 

representatives from local water companies 

to assess how water company managed 

catchment management schemes might be 

dovetailed in the future with public sector 

schemes to provide a complementary 

offering.  

To find out more please contact the Trust at info@wrt.org.uk. 

15

The grey wagtail is a riparian specialist dependant on river insects 

Image: Luc Viatour 

 

 

PROJECT FOCUS 

CLEANER WATER STARTS UPSTREAM  SOUTH WEST WATER,  IN COLLABORATION WITH A GROUP OF REGIONAL CONSERVATION CHARITIES, HAVE INITIATED  ONE  OF  THE  LARGEST  AND  MOST  INNOVATIVE  CONSERVATION  PROJECTS  IN  THE  UK:  THE ‘UPSTREAM THINKING’ INITIATIVE.  

UPSTREAM THINKING 

The ‘Upstream Thinking’ initiative was

originally conceived as the result of some

‘lateral thinking’ by the Westcountry Rivers

Trust Project Team ‐ all of whom

recognised that we, as a society, place

huge demands on landowners in our rural

catchments.

Not only do we require them to produce

food from their land, for which they get

paid, but we also ask them to deliver a

number of services from their land for

which they do not get paid. These services

include the provision of clean water, the

protection of biodiversity, contributions

to flood defences, the management of

landscape character and accommodation

of recreation and access. It is, perhaps,

unsurprising then that these land

managers often struggle to deliver all of

these services to the level required by

society.

Instead of resorting to prosecuting

landowners for not delivering all of the

above services, under the traditional

‘polluter pays’ principle, the Upstream

Thinking project team believe that

landowners should be financially

encouraged and rewarded for their

positive actions in what could be described

as a new ‘provider is paid’ principle.

South West Water have recognized that it is

cheaper to help farmers deliver cleaner raw

water (water in rivers and streams) than it is

to pay for the expensive filtration

equipment that is required for them to treat

polluted water after it is abstracted from the

river for drinking.

South West Water also believe that water

consumers will be better served and in a

more cost‐effective manner if they spend

the money raised from water bills on

catchment restoration in the short‐term

 

 

rather than on water filtration in the long

term. They anticipate that, through this

proactive rather than reactive approach,

they may be able to reduce the future

additional costs of water purification by a

factor of fifty and so ultimately save their

customers from footing the bill. It is

estimated that the entire Upstream

Thinking initiative will cost each water

consumer in the South West around 65p

per year.

What makes the Upstream Thinking

project even more beneficial is that, in

addition to improving raw water quality,

there are likely to be a wide array of

additional benefits. First, the beautiful

natural landscape of the Westcountry,

which is highly valued by so many

residents and visitors alike, will be

protected and restored on an

unprecedented scale. Second, the work

will reap huge rewards in the conservation

of biodiversity on the land and in our rivers

and nature conservation will become an

integral part of the living working

landscape once again, rather than the

exclusive preserve of protected nature

reserves.

Finally, farmers will, as a result of the

project, be paid fairly for delivering not just

food from their land but also a wide variety

of other essential services for the benefit

of society as a whole.

The Westcountry Rivers Trust as a

partner of the South West Water

Upstream Thinking initiative will

focus on delivering farm

infrastructure and land

use improvement

works in five areas

across Devon

and Cornwall

that form critical elements of South West

Water’s Strategic Supply Network for

drinking water;

Upper Haddeo (Wimbleball Reservoir)

(1)

Upper Wolf (Roadford Lake) (2)

Upper Tamar Lakes (3)

Other Upper Tamar catchments,

including the Ottery (4)

Upper Fowey catchment, including

Colliford and Sibleyback Reservoirs (5)

= Upstream Thinking work area 

Over‐stocking can lead to field poaching and erosion 

 

 

FUNDRAISING NEWS 

18

Funding surge will boost river conservation efforts AFTER A RECORD BREAKING 2010 FOR THE TRUST, IN TERMS OF THE AMOUNT OF WORK WE HAVE WON AND DELIVERED, WE 

ARE NOW LOOKING TO RAISE EVEN MORE MONEY TO FUND RIVER CONSERVATION WORK IN 2011.  

With last year proving to be the Westcountry Rivers Trust’s biggest

year yet and with our involvement in five major river conservation

projects continuing into 2011 (and with several new projects on the

horizon) we look set to increase the amount of river conservation

work we do even further this year.

In addition to our usual fundraising work (writing funding bids for

major projects, engaging with our supporters and trading by Tamar

Consulting) the Trust has also established an Endowment Fund to

provide a platform that, we hope, will give us the stability and

freedom to continue our work long into the future. For more

information contact the Trust for an Endowment Fund Info Pack.

Trust in a show this summer The Westcountry Rivers Trust will be on the road again this year 

with exhibits planned for all of the major Westcountry and 

national shows. 

So, if you are at one of the county shows, the Spring Fly Fishing 

Show, the Game & Equine Show, the Bath & West Show, the 

Launceston Show, the Game Fair or the Holsworthy & Stratton 

Show then feel free to come along to our stand for a chat. 

The shows and events we attend each year are a great way to 

meet people, make contacts and raise awareness of the work 

we do to promote and protect the Westcountry’s rivers. 

Annual fundraiser is great success In December 2010 friends, associates, and supporters of the Trust

assembled in the spectacular setting of Bovey Castle to attend our

Annual Lunch fundraising event.

Despite the icy conditions on the approach to the splendid country

hotel venue, all arrived safely and the day was a great success.

After dinner the assembled audience were addressed by Trust

Director Dylan Bright and the guest speaker Professor Michael

Winter OBE who is a prominent expert on rural politics and

economics and Director of the Centre for Rural Policy Research at

the University of Exeter .

Annual Lunch guests 

enjoy the warmth of the 

fire in the Cathedral Suite 

at Bovey Castle. 

Trust stand at a 

recent show 

 

 

WRT ONLINE 

New Trust websites up and running The end of 2010 saw the launch of a re‐designed and re‐structured Westcountry Rivers

Trust website. The new site has a number of new features including a new photo gallery

and an interactive map of the Westcountry showing all of our different projects at a

catchment‐by‐catchment level.

In addition to the new Trust site we have also been working to create new websites for

the AARC Project (www.aarcproject.org), the WATER Project (www.projectwater.eu)

and the Hatchery Forum (www.hatcheryforum.org.uk). The next big challenge in 2011

will be the redesign of the Tamar Consulting website.

Thanks to our supporters and funders WE WOULD  LIKE  TO  SAY  A  HUGE  THANK‐YOU  TO  ALL OF OUR  SUPPORTERS  AND  FUNDERS—WITHOUT  YOUR  SUPPORT WE 

WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ENHANCE THE HEALTH AND NATURAL VALUE OF OUR RIVERS AND RIVER CATCHMENTS. 

River cameras are a real catch online In 2009 four friends sat in a west country pub and had a great idea—what if there 

were cameras on every river that allowed you to monitor their condition online. Later 

that year, now called Farson Digital, they installed their first cameras on the River 

Exe at Exebridge and on the Taw at Umberleigh.  

Since then, supported by the Westcountry Rivers Trust through their EU‐funded 

Collabor8 Project, Farson Digital have installed cameras on 

18 Westcountry rivers and are continuing to expand their 

network across England (34), Wales (1) and Scotland (17).  

19

The cameras are now getting thousands of visitors each week and later in 2011 when Farson Digital 

launch their new national website they and the Trust will be able to reap the rewards and make a 

huge contribution to the promotion of angling in the Westcountry. 

New site in development for carbon storage The summer of 2011 will see the development of a new website for the C‐Plus Project

currently being established by Laurence Couldrick. The aim of the C‐Plus Project will be

to develop a system whereby money for the restoration of rivers and wetland habitats is

raised from regional ‘environmental off‐setters’ (businesses or people who, for one

reason or another, want to redress some of their negative environmental impacts). More

news to follow later in the year, but if you want to know more about the C‐Plus Project

you can by visiting www.wrt.org.uk/projects/cplus/cplus.html