After seven years of project planning, fundraising and delivery, local wildlife charity, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust have completed a major river restoration project on the River Ash on the Easneye Estate, near Hertford, also creating an extensive range of new wetland habitats to benefit wildlife.

The River Ash is one of only around 260 chalk rivers in the world (with Hertfordshire and Middlesex home to 10% of this global resource). These incredibly rare and unique river systems support some of our most vulnerable species, including the critically endangered Water Vole, wild Brown Trout, and Kingfisher. Despite how precious they are, chalk rivers have historically faced significant challenges from human activities and they face the well-documented problems of pollution, over-abstraction and the growing impacts of climate change, with drought and flooding episodes becoming more frequent.

The completed project is thought to be one of the most ambitious river restoration projects to have taken place in the south east, with a seven kilometre stretch of the chalk river restored to its original course. The works included:

• Wiggles being reintroduced to the river
• Reconnection of the river to its floodplain
• Regrading over two miles of the river’s bank
• Reconnecting two relic meanders
• Raising the river bed with over 3,000 tonnes of gravel going back in the channel to counter the impact of earlier dredging
• Over 300 woody debris features put in the water to create shelter for fish
• Additionally, wetland habitat has been created to recreate the variety that was eliminated over many years. This includes 15 new ponds, backwaters and wetland scrapes, which will support a range of wildlife, including native plants, herons, dragonflies, damselflies and amphibians.

Sarah Perry, River Catchment Coordinator at Herts and Middlesex Trust says,

“It’s rewarding to see such an ambitious project completed in Hertfordshire – the level of scale and impact is really exciting. This project not only provides hope for nature, but healthier rivers are good for us too – they carry fresh water, protect us from floods, help to maintain the ecosystem balance that we rely on – plus, they support our wellbeing. 

“It’s also been an encouraging journey to go on with the Easneye Estate, to have gained their trust and learnt more along the way. Together, within their farm cluster, we can demonstrate what other rivers in the county could be, which provides an exciting dynamic and I’m hopeful this will lead to more positive change for rivers and nature’s recovery.”

Initial plans for the project started in 2018, in partnership with the Environment Agency. The scheme was approved at the end of 2020 but fundraising for it was delayed due to the pandemic. In 2022, funding for the first kilometre of work was secured from The National Lottery Heritage Funds’ Green Recovery Challenge Fund but it was not until April 2024 that the Trust secured the rest of the funding for the project from the Government’s Species Survival Fund, along with contributions from the Easneye Estate and the Environment Agency. Work began again last year and was completed in August.

Going forward regular monitoring of flora and fauna against baseline surveys, which were carried out before the project began, will enable the Trust to evaluate the impact of this project on wildlife.

To find out more about the Trust’s Living Rivers project to protect and improve Hertfordshire’s precious chalk streams go to hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/living-rivers