Meon at Midlington gets a Makeover
Feb 04, 2010
Contact Name: Cat Robinson
Contact email: CatR@hwt.org.uk
The Meon Valley Partnership and Wild Trout Trust joined forces with local landowner, Danny Bower, to carry out habitat improvement work on the River Meon at Midlington for the benefit of brown trout and river wildlife.
If you live in the Meon Valley you may have heard of the Meon Valley Partnership and the Wild Trout Trust, and you may have seen us in action during November. We were on the River Meon at Midlington, near Droxford, with diggers, tractors and people dressed in high vis jackets, working to improve the Meon for wildlife.
The project is designed to improve the habitat on 800 metres of damaged river and is funded from local rod licence sales through the Environment Agency, from funds from South Downs Joint Committee and from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
The work has created much needed variations in river depth and flow patterns which will result in improved habitat for a variety of chalkstream plants, invertebrates, and fish, including brown trout. The scheme was designed and project managed by the Wild Trout Trust (WTT) with valuable input from one of the country’s leading river ecologists, Dr Nigel Holmes.
Andy Thomas, WTT Conservation Officer and project manager said “This project is a great example of how simple and cost effective enhancements can be achieved on our chalk rivers which will result in some fantastic improvements for wildlife. Working with the Meon Valley Partnership has enabled us to finance the work and provide the level of monitoring required to measure the effect of the changes as the new habitats settle down.”
Landowner Danny Bower commented “ It’s great to see the river getting back into good condition and I’m looking forward to seeing the future benefits for wildlife. I would recommend that other landowners explore the contributions that they can make to improving and conserving habitat in the Meon valley.”
Rivers and their associated habitats are sensitive sites so we would ask that you remain on the public footpaths while you are passing through the Meon Valley. If you wish to find out more about this project or other opportunities for improving river habitat, please take a look at the WTT website: www.wildtrout.org or the Meon Valley Partnership website: www.hwt.org.uk/pages/meon-valley-partnership-2.html
