Vital conservation work taking place at Newport Canal
Vital habitat conservation work including dredging is taking place at Newport Canal over the next month following an announcement earlier this year that funding had been secured.
A partnership between Telford & Wrekin Council, Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England secured a Water Environment Grant of £98,000 from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to enable work to take place.
The aim of the dredging work is to help benefit the canal’s rare plants. A display about the recovery programme will be available for viewing in Cosy Hall while the work takes place.
Dredging will increase the depth of the canal to help the unusual plants that are found there to flourish.
Newport Canal was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1986 and it is an important habitat for some of the country’s rarest aquatic plant species.
The work that takes place over the next month will seek to restore the site’s ecological condition.
Siltation (the natural build up of a fine deposit of soil particles and plant matter on the canal bed) over the last 30 years has resulted in a lower water depth meaning poorer conditions resulting in a decline of the rare plant species and aquatic creatures.
Councillor Hilda Rhodes, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Parks, Green Spaces and the Natural Environment, said: “This work will result in much improved conditions in the canal for the rare aquatic flora and fauna to flourish.
“It will also mean a better experience for visitors to the picturesque canal and demonstrates a strong example of how we work in partnership to ensure communities get the most benefit from such projects.”
For further information on the Newport Canal SSSI Recovery Programme, contact Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s river projects manager Pete Lambert at petel@shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk
Caption: Newport mayor Councillor Peter Scott (right) with Shropshire Wildlife Trust's river projects manager Pete Lambert at the canal.
