To start this series of Rambling about Rivers, we’re tackling river habitat decline: what’s driving it, how it’s impacting our rivers, and most importantly, what’s being done to reverse the damage. From degraded peatlands and invasive species to the straightening and deepening of river channels, we explore the historic and ongoing pressures on our waterways.  

You’ll hear from: 

Freya Connolly of the Buffer+ project in Ireland, who’s championing innovative paludiculture farming on revitalised peatland. 

Pete King from Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust, who explains how “re-wiggling” a chalk stream created thriving wetland habitat and reconnected the local community to their river. 

Matt Duffy from Don Catchment Rivers Trust, who shares the incredible story of how salmon returned to Sheffield’s River Don for the first time in over 150 years, thanks to decades of barrier removal and river restoration.  

Find out more and get involved: 

Don Catchment Rivers Trust’s Wilder Salmon Pastures 

Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust’s Cockshut Restoration Project 

Find your local Rivers Trust 

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Follow us on social media @theriverstrust. Hosted and edited by Emma Brisdion and Matthew Woodard, mixed by Mark Skinner.