@YorksDCP Yorkshire Derwent

Catchment Partnership

WREN Project at Wheldrake

The hides and track funded by WREN as part of

the project at Wheldrake Ings are now complete.

Built by a Yorkshire social enterprise that trains

young people and involving over 25 local

volunteers from 4 organisations it was a triumph

of partnership working.

Funding has now been obtained for the remainder

of the track which will be completed next year.

Below are examples of the child friendly

interpretation panels which have been installed on

the site. The panels depict floodplain meadows, the

history of farming in the valley and bird migration.

Barmby On The Marsh: Doing

More For The Derwent

Phase 1 of work has begun at

Barmby Barrage SSSI. This EA

owned reserve used to be

important for a wide variety of

wading and wildfowl bird species,

similar to those found at other

sites in the Lower Derwent Valley.

The aerial photograph below

displays and overview of the site

and shows how areas of the land

have become overgrown,

restricting the amount of water

which can be held on the ground. The first phase of the work includes

clearing the area in order to map

out where the areas of standing

water should be when the River

Ouse floods onto the land. This will

allow the creation of Bird Scrape

areas.

Staff and volunteer days are being

hosted at the SSSI to help us

achieve our aim of encouraging a

higher level of community

engagement. These events will be

run with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust,

the Friends of the Lower Derwent

Valley and the Lower Derwent

Valley NNR.

Derwent Villages

The Derwent Villages Natural Flood

Management Demonstration Project

is aimed at implementing and

promoting interventions that will

contribute to mitigating flood risk

and providing multiple secondary

benefits to biodiversity and water

quality.

The first phase of the project is on

becks fed by the North York Moors

National Park. The images are from

the site at Spaunton Estate where

the first work on the ground has

begun. The images show leaky dams

and pools created to restrict the flow

of water. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will

be working with the National Trust

and the Forestry Commission to

install other features in the coming

weeks.

Time lapse cameras are monitoring

several of the leaky dams and the

water levels around them. The

footage from these cameras is being

sent to iCASP for analysis.

The Derwent Villages project is being

funded by a grant from the

Environment Agency’s Community

NFM fund .

LDV Sediment Walkovers : Doing More For

The Derwent

Working with the Natural England Catchment

Sensitive Farming officers and using funding

from the Environment Agency, we have been

following up a survey in 2017 looking at

sediment issues on the lower reaches of the

River Derwent.

Thirty issues were investigated and discussed

with 23 landowners and a workshop was

organised with speakers from Innovation for

Agriculture, discussing ways to improve soil

health on farms. The NE CSF officer was also

present to offer advice on free specialist help

and testing for soils to reduce sediment

issues.

Credit: Nick Upton/Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Beaver Reintroduction: Cropton Forrest

The Yorkshire enclosed beaver trial is led by the Forestry Commission, it is a science based

research project, following on from the ‘Slowing the Flow’ project with the following aims;

The beavers’ impact on the long term sustainability and maintenance of the ‘Slowing

the flow’ structures

The water storage of additional dams created by the beaver

The beavers’ impact on biodiversity along the river valley

The beavers impact on ecotourism

The beavers’ impact on rhododendron control

Extensive stakeholder consultation was

undertaken in advance of the project

and a licence has been received from

Natural England. The infrastructure for

the 10 ha enclosure is currently being

installed and we hope to receive a pair

of Scottish beavers at the project site

this spring.

The project has received funding from

North Yorkshire County Council, the

North York Moors National Park and

Forest Holidays with in kind support

from the Environment Agency and

Nature Spy.