The national award celebrates the achievements of those individuals and organisations working to restore our rivers, floodplains and catchments. It was presented to the Trust’s Rivers Recovery Manager, Sarah Perry, at an awards dinner, held in conjunction with RRC’s Annual Network Conference, which attracts over 550 attendees. 

The seven-year ‘Reviving the River Ash’ project, which involved planning, fundraising and delivery to restore the rare chalk river running through the Easneye Estate, near Hertford, also resulted in an extensive range of new wetland habitats being created to benefit wildlife, including the critically endangered Water Vole, wild Brown Trout, and Kingfisher. 

Sarah Perry, Rivers Recovery Manager at Herts and Middlesex Trust says, 

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see our work on the River Ash recognised by the RRC and to highlight how this ambitious landmark project provides hope for nature’s recovery. The scale and impact of the project is exciting for us too. Healthier rivers carry fresh water, protect us from floods, help to maintain the ecosystem balance that we rely on and 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. And now the impact of this project has national recognition, I hope it can inspire further river restoration and investment from funders.” 

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, but 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 River Ash 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 riverbed 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. 

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 in 2024 and was completed in August 2025. 

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