About 200 years ago, the community of Swindale in Cumbria embarked on an ambitious project to straighten their river, with the aim of speeding the flow of water through the valley and increasing the amount of farmland surrounding it.

That had unintended consequences. The faster-flowing water was too swift for fish like salmon and trout to spawn.

An ambitious "rewiggling" project had had immediate benefits.

#rewilding #rewiggling #Cumbria

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65341994

“It was like flicking a switch, the natural process switch. As soon as the water started flowing through the winding channel, nature was back in charge again, and all of that diversity came back, almost as if by magic,”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/26/diversity-returns-to-lakeland-stream-after-restoration-puts-its-bends-back

#Swindale
#SwindaleBeck
#Rewilding
#Rewiggling
#Haweswater
#LakeDistrict
#Cumbria

@RSPBEngland