Wilder Waterways

Bernie D’Arcy the Living Landscapes Manager from Avon Wildlife Trust gave a presentation to YACWAG members via Zoom on 8th April 2021 on an exciting project being undertaken jointly with the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) on the Land Yeo. The Land Yeo river is a 20 km river within the North Somerset Streams sub-catchment and feeds the Tickenham Nailsea and Kenn Moor SSSI and the Severn Estuary SSSI/SAC/SPA. It is therefore a very important river in the area, sitting within the North Somerset Levels and Moors, coastal and floodplain grazing marsh extending to 7950 hectares which includes 1160 hectares of peatland. The project aims to improve 35 km of waterways in the Land Yeo catchment. 

Bernie also mentioned other exciting projects local to Nailsea, including the proposed Nailsea Constructed Wetlands to take 70% of Nailsea’s run-off, and a large-scale re-wilding project at Belmont. Bernie believes the project around the Land Yeo catchment will be able to demonstrate good practice and act as a blueprint for other areas. 

WaterBlitz – A chance to be involved
An annual project gets people out and about in nature testing samples of water in order to give a snapshot of water quality in the area. This citizen science project is part of a global programme by Freshwater Watch that helps people understand how precious our wetland ecosystems are. Join in

You can get water testing kits posted out to you to use on the dates between 7th and 10th May this year. Full details on the website: freshwater watch.thewaterhub.org. Or you can go to Moorend Spout nature reserve in Nailsea (BS48 2NN) between 10am and 2pm on 8th May and collect one in person and learn a bit more about the scheme.