press release
22 March 2013
CHARITY RECEIVES CASH BOOST TO HELP PROTECT ENDANGERED WATER VOLES IN LEICESTERSHIRE
Water voles in Leicestershire are set to benefit after a canal charity’s project to improve habitats along the Grand Union Canal received a £50,000 boost from Natural England. The Canal & River Trust believes the work will help to increase numbers of the endangered mammal in the area whilst helping protect a number of water loving plants.
The Trust is creating a water vole-friendly green edge along 350 metres of steel piled canal bank between locks 25 and 26, near the villages of Kilby and Newton Harcourt on the Leicester Line by planting environmentally friendly coir rolls.
These three metre long mats, made from coconut husks, will be planted with a variety of aquatic plants. Once established they will provide food and shelter, allowing the voles to burrow into the bank and make their homes away from predators.
This four week project, which is along a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), is just one of a number planned by the Trust to try and boost the numbers of this popular and much loved animal along the waterways in England and Wales.
John Best, chair of the Trust’s south east waterway partnership, said: “We are delighted that Natural England has made this huge donation towards our water vole project. Canals can provide the perfect environment for water voles to live since they are abundant with food. Water voles are protected by law but their numbers are still declining so it is more important now than ever that we try and increase their numbers. Sheet piling is a pretty hostile nesting material if you`re a vole, so we welcome this chance to offer them something a little more welcoming.”
Sadie Hobson, from Natural England, said: “Water voles are the UK’s fastest declining mammal and is better known as ‘Ratty’ from the popular children’s book The Wind in the Willows. We know that water voles live along the Grand Union Canal and by improving this stretch of waterway we can link the colonies, which will encourage the voles to explore further, and hopefully lead to breeding and ultimately numbers increasing.”
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The Canal & River Trust is the guardian of 2,000 miles of historic waterways across England and Wales. We are among the largest charities in the UK, maintaining the nation’s third largest collection of Listed structures, as well as museums, archives, navigations and hundreds of important wildlife sites.
We believe that our canals and rivers are a national treasure and a local haven for people and wildlife. It is our job to care for this wonderful legacy – holding it in trust for the nation in perpetuity and giving people a greater role in the running of their local waterways