Funding to curb decline of wildlife, including Atlantic wild salmon

A recent Natural Resources Wales report says that without urgent action Atlantic salmon may disappear from most Welsh rivers in as little as 20 or 30 years.

Climate change minister Julie James has named nine new large and 17 medium projects that will benefit from the latest round of Nature Networks Fund investment, to strengthen the resilience of Wales’ seas, forests and disappearing grasslands.

These are home to some of Wales’ most iconic species, including the curlew, otter and bottlenose dolphin.

This graph shows predicted trends for salmon over the next 20-30 years. The Wye is one of only three Welsh rivers to show non-declining trends (Image: None)

Visiting the River Usk, which rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountains in Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), flowing down to Sennybridge, Brecon, Talybont-on-Usk and Crickhowell, and has seen the steepest decline of Atlantic salmon, Ms James said: “We all want a Wales that we are proud to pass onto our future generations.

“Currently they are facing quite a different world if we don’t stand up and act quickly in a team Wales effort to tackle the climate and nature emergencies.

“Whilst we must do all we can to protect our precious Atlantic wild salmon, healthy, free-flowing rivers will benefit all of our physical and mental wellbeing.

“A thriving population of salmon indicates a clean and well oxygenated river where other species can flourish and tourism can boom. Whether you’re a bather, toe-dipper, twitcher, angler or kayaker a healthy river means a more enjoyable countryside experience.”

Led by Swansea University, the Reconnecting the Salmon rivers of Wales project is working with stakeholders to redesign barriers that help fish move freely up and down stream.

Over centuries, physical barriers such as roads, development and farmland have left animals and plants stranded on unconnected ‘islands’, blocking migration routes and thus decreasing the gene pool and health of animal and plant populations. These broken up habitats have left salmon and other species fighting for survival.

In response, the Welsh Government set up the Nature Networks Programme to build wildlife corridors throughout Wales, while enlisting local people in its efforts, as it calls for action to tackle the global nature emergency.

The project has already benefitted from more than £600,000 from the first round of funding, which awarded £7 million to 29 projects.

The River Wye near Builth Wells. The Wye is one of only three Welsh rivers to show non-declining trends in salmon. Picture by Christine Matthews/Geograph

Phase two of funding announced on April 28 will aid Mid Wales as the Freshwater Habitats Trust has secured £719,908 for the ‘River Irfon catchment: Helping communities develop nature networks to protect and restore freshwater biodiversity’ project in Powys.

It is setting out to substantially increase the resilience of the freshwater biodiversity network in the River Irfon catchment – flowing from the Cambrian Mountains, through Llanwrtyd Wells and to Builth Wells – and protect critical freshwater sites and species.

It will cover the River Irfon Special Area of Conservation and three of its tributaries – the Tirabad Dulas, Garth Dulas and Chwefru.

The project is also aiming to give local people more opportunities to get involved with nature and to make sure that it can continue to meet all these goals in the long term.

Its aim is to remove physical barriers that have blocked migration routes for wild Atlantic salmon and other species in the West Cleddau, EastCleddau, Usk, Tywi, and Teifi rivers.

Wild Atlantic salmon return to the river they were born just once in a lifetime to spawn. To do so, they make an epic journey from the high seas to swim against currents as they mission upstream.

But now, this ancient fish featured so much in Welsh folklore, is met with culverts, dams and weirs that trap them in lower areas of the river.

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Professor Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, coordinator of the project, said: “People in Wales have been fortunate enough to enjoy the presence of iconic migratory fish like the Atlantic salmon, the sewin, the sea lamprey, the European eel or the shad for millennia.

“These form part of Welsh culture and are an integral part of Wales’ heritage and natural capital. But the UK has also some of the most fragmented, polluted, and dirtiest rivers in Europe, and the future of our native migratory fish is now under serious threat of extinction.

“A recent report indicates that if nothing is done Atlantic salmon may disappear from most Welsh rivers in as little as 20 or 30 years. We cannot let this happen.

“Our project will restore 141 kilometres of fragmented river habitat. Healthy rivers are free-flowing rivers, and it is hoped that this and similar initiatives will make our rivers free-flowing again and help reverse the decline of Atlantic salmon.”

The NNF project is working with Afonydd Cymru, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, the West Wales Rivers Trust, the Wye and Usk Foundation, the Afan Valley Angling and Conservation Club and Natural Resources Wales to tackle river fragmentation by removing or mitigating the impact of 17 river barriers (mostly disused weirs) in five rivers.