Project details

Water voles are one of the UK’s fastest-declining native mammals, and canals provide an important connected landscape that can help remaining populations survive, spread, and reconnect. This project focuses on supporting the recovery of water voles in the West Midlands by improving and restoring canal-side habitats at key locations identified as priorities through data analysis and strategic planning.

The project will create safer, species-suitable habitat along canal edges by improving waterside margins, increasing natural vegetation and creating calmer, greener edges to the water. These changes will provide water voles with places to feed, travel, hide from predators, and establish new burrows, helping existing populations expand and become more resilient over time.

The project also has a strong focus on local people and communities. Volunteers will be actively involved in habitat improvement activities and also in monitoring surveys, helping to build skills, raise awareness, and generate long-term stewardship of local waterways. Citizen science style monitoring will provide valuable data to track progress and inform future conservation work.

Overall, the project aims to protect and restore habitats, strengthen water vole populations, enhance canal environments, and inspire local people to care for wildlife close to where they live, contributing to nature recovery across the region.

Scheme / Programme

This project forms part of the Canal & River Trust’s wider Water Vole Recovery Strategy for the West Midlands region, building on previous habitat improvement work delivered through the Green Recovery Challenge Fund. It contributes to a strategic, long-term programme of habitat restoration, monitoring, and community engagement to support water vole populations across the regional canal network.

Scale

The scale of this project is 9,200 metres.

Project delivery timeline

Habitat improvement works will be carried out during the winter period to avoid impacts on other species. Monitoring and volunteer surveys will run alongside delivery and continue post completion to assess outcomes and inform future management.

Community involvement

Local communities and volunteers have helped shape this project through ongoing data collection across the West Midlands canal network. Since 2022, volunteers have taken part in the Vole Patrol citizen science programme, collecting valuable information on water vole presence and habitat condition, which has helped identify priority locations for recovery work.

During delivery, local people will be actively involved through volunteer habitat improvement activities such as planting sessions to enhance feeding areas, alongside continued monitoring surveys to track progress and impact. Post-delivery, volunteers will remain engaged through repeat surveys and stewardship activities, helping assess outcomes, build long-term knowledge, and encouraging community pride in local waterways and wildlife.