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Medina River Restoration

Natural Enterprise and Island 2000 Trust will begin in the spring of 2011 a series of projects to improve a prominent section of the River Medina for its declining fish species and other wildlife.

The first phase of this exciting project is to restore the critical 3km of the main river from the tidal limit of the Medina in the centre of Newport upstream to Blackwater. The aim is to ensure the in-stream bankside habitats are of the quality needed to support target Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP)species; the brown/sea trout and the European eel. Other species to benefit from the work will be the Water Vole and the Bullhead fish.

This river channel work will be managed by expert contractors Wessex Land and Water in June 2011 but before then one of the river’s main problems for fish and aquatic life must be tackled – its darkness. With little management in recent years the bankside trees have grown up until their canopies close overhead leaving the river too cold and dark to support the range of biodiversity it once did. Many of these trees are now also left weakened and prone to splitting, falling over the path or into the river. The project will therefore set about coppicing and pollarding willows and alders to restore a sunlit riverside walk that will be better for people and wildlife.

The trees will be left to grow back and in some cases the coppicing will extend a tree’s life where it might otherwise crack and begin to rot back and die. The project will enhance the river’s wildlife and make a better public place for local people with the help of our partners all of whom have given us invaluable help and advice to make sure the work runs smoothly and effectively.

Our Partners


Image: View along the Medina River where some coppicing will take place to allow more light to the path and the Medina.

Please do call Natural Enterprise on 01983 535886 if you would like to know more or want to ask any questions about the work or email us.