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Riverlands project at Porlock Vale

Sweeping view of Bossington and Porlock
Sweeping view of Bossington and Porlock | © National Trust Images/Ross Hoddinott

The Riverlands project at Porlock Vale on Exmoor aims to create river and catchment areas that are clean, healthy and rich in wildlife. Find out how we’re reverting river courses to their natural path to help stop flash flooding. Discover how beavers and water voles are being re-introduced and how they help create a diverse habitat for plants and other wildlife.

The Riverlands project

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. We're setting out to reverse this trend through our work.

Since 2018, Holnicote has been delivering a flagship Riverlands project, taking a catchment-based, landscape scale approach to develop alternative ways of managing land and water; ensuring it is resilient and nature rich, whilst remaining productive. This has been undertaken in partnership with many local farm tenants and volunteers and with the full support of the local community.

Working with partners

The Porlock project is part of the Interreg 2 Seas Co-Adapt programme. We’ve been working with European partners since 2019 to restore natural processes that are more resilient to the impacts of climate change and provides benefits for people and nature. We also work closely with the Environment Agency.

Rationale for Riverlands work

Over hundreds of years many rivers have been simplified and concentrated into straight channels that have become disconnected from the land around them. These modified rivers move water and sediment rapidly through the river catchment, providing no buffer against flooding or droughts.

Our work at Holnicote is underpinned by over 13 years of monitoring covering everything from water flow and quality to soil health, groundwater, ecological monitoring and high-resolution drone imagery, helping us understand the challenges, test new ways of working and provide an evidence base to inform and to scale up efforts on a much bigger scale, with national impact.

Beaver enclosure 18 months after beavers were introduced, Holnicote Estate, Somerset
Beaver enclosure at Holnicote Estate 18 months after beavers were introduced | © National Trust Images/Nick Upton

A natural route for rivers

We piloted a pioneering project to revert rivers to their natural path before any human involvement, called Stage 0. The plan reverted a tributary of the Aller river to its original course before human intervention. Following the success of the pilot project, work was carrried out over 33 acres (13 hectares) on the main River Aller. The first stage was careful earthworks creating shallowly skimmed areas to reset the valley bottom and natural river flow.

Developing ecological diversity

Earthmoving equipment was used to allow a more natural flow to connect a stream and wetland system. Following this, habitat restoration was ‘fast tracked’ by using woody debris and key plant species to help develop more hydrological and ecological diversity on the site. This creates the kind of conditions that might have existed before – prior to the river system being heavily managed, with the river itself modified into a single channel. It also allows for more water to be stored in the water table to help in times of drought.

Floodplain wildflower seeds such as ragged robin, devil’s-bit scabious and meadowsweet were sown and 25,000 native trees such as willow, bird cherry and black poplar were planted to further enrich the habitat.

Latest project updates

June 2024

Freshwater Renaissance project launches

We are continuing and expanding our Riverlands programme of work on the Holnicote Estate, making more space for water.

We will be connecting freshwater with saltwater on the estate and creating around twenty new ponds, wet woodlands and meadows. We are injecting diversity into our freshwater habitats with dead wood, tree planting, sowing wildflowers to join up with neighbouring habitats.

We hope to see the return of wildlife that relies on freshwater species, such as small mammals and majestic raptors.

We are planning new community engagement events and activities and a new partnership has begun with a National Trust tenanted farm, home to Tivington Farm School, a special educational needs school (SEN).

This project is funded by the Government's Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Water vole in river
Water vole in river | © National Trust Images/Richard Bradshaw

Our partners

Fundraising Regulator

The independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Green Recovery Challenge Fund

This project is funded by the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund. The fund is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Interreg 2 Seas Co-Adapt programme

Riverlands is part funded by Interreg. This programme aims to increase awareness on the potential consequences of climate change and to enable stakeholders to develop a collective approach to be integrated in spatial planning and innovative solutions for environmental and economic resilience and integrated management of coastal zones.

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Environment Agency

Environmental Agency is a public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, working to create better places for people and wildlife, and support sustainable development.

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