01/06/19 - Joint working with the EA

Over the course of the last two weeks, our fantastic and enthusiastic team of volunteers have once again been on their travels with us, this time heading up the River Derwent to a site near Yedingham, north-east of Malton. The Environment Agency, working with a sympathetic landowner and the Internal Drainage Board, have been working to ‘naturalise’ the straightened river. The flood banks have been lowered and breached, allowing a small area of previously arable land to become part of the floodplain once again with a series of scrapes, ponds and channels providing a range of habitats. Our task was to provide a range of wetland plants, sourced around the Lower Derwent Valley NNR, to help the colonisation of the site, and to provide another refuge for many of the rare and scarce species present on the reserve. 

The team were kept busy planting a range of species, including Water Dock and Greater Water Parsnip – the latter being confined to just the LDV and Hornsea Mere a few years ago. We have since managed to restore this nationally scarce and declining species to many of its traditional Yorkshire sites, and hopefully this will help secure it at yet another Yorkshire Derwent location. Many thanks to everyone involved - another great job by our fantastic team.