“Dramatic changes” to Exmoor river a “mind blowing” success
A pioneering river restoration on Exmoor is declared a success after producing many strikingly big benefits for people and nature in its first 12 months. Careful monitoring of the River Aller on the National Trust's Holnicote Estate in West Somerset has shown flood risks reduced and wildlife teeming. The project was part-funded by Somerset Rivers Authority.
• Full ‘river reset’ and reconnection with the floodplain exceeds expectations as landscape put to the test with England’s wettest 18-month period since records began
• Innovative approach is the first large-scale scheme using the ‘Stage 0’ approach in the UK, which was first pioneered in America
• Scientists have documented impressive increases of nearly 1800 per cent in aquatic habitat including more than ten football pitches of new waterscapes and wetlands, and improvements to slowing the flow and water quality
• Site has changed from a site of neat lines and short grass with little for wildlife to a ‘messy complex jumble of waterscapes’
• Nature boosted on site thanks to increase in wetland with a wide variety of water-loving creatures benefiting including water voles and water-fowl