Wild Animals

Wild River Habitat Restoration

River restoration through meander reinstatement, log jam creation and riffle restoration improves habitat complexity and directly benefits the welfare of fish, otters, waterbirds and invertebrates.

Key Facts

Over 97% of UK rivers have been significantly degraded by straightening, dredging or pollution
Rewiggled rivers show 50-75% increases in fish populations within 5 years
Woody debris in rivers creates velocity refugia that allow salmonids to conserve energy
Rivers For Life estimated 26,000 km of English rivers need active restoration

Welfare Considerations

Fish in degraded, featureless rivers lack refugia from predators and high flows, increasing exposure to predation stress and energy expenditure. Otter populations in straightened rivers have reduced denning habitat and smaller territories. River restoration that creates complexity directly improves the daily lives of river-dwelling animals by reducing energetic and predation stress.

What You Can Do

Support Wild Trout Trust and Rivers Trust restoration projects
Volunteer for local river conservation events and monitoring
Advocate for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) that reduce river flashiness
Oppose agricultural drainage and channelisation in planning processes