Case study:North Devon Riverlands

Project overview

Edit project overview

Status	In progress
Project web site
Themes	Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Land use management - agriculture, Land use management - forestry, Social benefits, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	James
Main contact surname	Thomas
Main contact user ID	User:James.thomas
Contact organisation	National Trust
Contact organisation web site	http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/arlington-court-and-the-national-trust-carriage-museum/north-devon-riverlands-project
Partner organisations
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects

This case study hasn’t got a picture, you can add one by editing the project overview.

Project summary

Edit project overview to modify the project summary.

The North Devon Riverlands Project restores wetland habitats across North Devon. Collaborating with four Ranger teams—Arlington Court, West Exmoor, Hartland, and Woolacombe—we focus on nature-based solutions to enhance water quality, reduce flood risk, combat soil erosion, and improve drought resilience, while promoting biodiversity. These efforts will create healthy, natural spaces for all to enjoy.

The Riverlands project The Riverlands project is an ambitious, long-term programme of work, at the heart of the Trust’s ambitions for restoring a healthy, natural environment. We're creating larger, connected spaces for nature on the land we care for, working in partnerships to achieve sustainable landscapes that benefit both people and wildlife.

Currently only 14% of England’s rivers are in good health, with 13% of freshwater and wetland species now threatened with extinction in the UK. 90% of lowland ponds were lost in the 20th century and 90% of our wetland habitat has been lost over the past century. We're setting out to reverse this trend through our work.

Our Vision Our vision is to restore: 

“A dynamic network of varied and naturally functioning wetland habitats across North Devon to create a diverse and resilient area for wildlife to thrive and people to enjoy.”

Background Centuries of land drainage across North Devon for farming and development have harmed wildlife and the environment. Streams and rivers were canalized and disconnected from floodplains, resulting in wetlands lost, reduced water quality, and an increased risk of flash flooding and soil erosion.

These practices have also had profound impacts upon wildlife, massively reducing the once widespread wetland habitats that many plants and animals depend on for their survival. This includes some of our most threatened and iconic species, such as water voles, otters, and kingfisher. 

With more extreme weather causing floods, droughts, and further habitat loss, there is a growing need for sustainable water management to protect both wildlife and landscapes.

Monitoring surveys and results

Edit project overview to modify the Monitoring survey and results.

We are monitoring changes across our sites with anecdotal evidence showing increases to the number of frogs, dragon flies, invertebrates, birds and other wildlife.

Lessons learnt

This case study hasn’t got any lessons learnt, you can add some by editing the project overview.

This case study is pending approval by a RiverWiki administrator.

Approve case study

 

0.00

(0 votes)

To discuss or comment on this case study, please use the discussion page.

Location: 51° 8' 9.78" N, 4° 14' 43.12" W

Edit location

Loading map...

{"format":"googlemaps3","type":"HYBRID","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"limit":50,"offset":0,"link":"all","sort":[""],"order":[],"headers":"show","mainlabel":"","intro":"","outro":"","searchlabel":"... further results","default":"","import-annotation":false,"width":"auto","height":"400px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":14,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[""],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"showtitle":false,"hidenamespace":true,"template":"Location map popup","userparam":"","activeicon":"","pagelabel":false,"ajaxcoordproperty":"","ajaxquery":"","locations":[{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E North Devon Riverlands\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECountry:\u003C/b\u003E \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/index.php?title=England\" title=\"England\"\u003EEngland\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Status:\u003C/b\u003E In progress\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThemes:\u003C/b\u003E Water quality\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"North Devon Riverlands","link":"","lat":51.13605,"lon":-4.24531,"icon":"/wiki/images/c/ce/Green_marker.png"}]}

Left click to look around in the map, and use the wheel of your mouse to zoom in and out.

Image gallery

Edit Image gallery

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present Invasive species present Species of interest Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) Project started Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Stakeholder engagement and communication Works and works supervision Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) Other Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information