Priority Habitats: River and Stream Restoration Priorities

Priority habitats form part of the UK’s commitment to the International Convention on Biodiversity. Each country who signed up to to the Convention is required to define a range of habitats (and individual species) where action is a priority to protect and restore biodiversity, and then to take the necessary action. The UK’s list of priority habitats includes both river and lake habitats. Existing nationally generated maps of river/stream and lake restoration priorities are now being refined with stakeholders to become a mechanism for highlighting local priorities for different sorts of restoration of natural habitat function – hydrological, physical, chemical and biological. Any site that falls under the UK river and lake priority habitat definitions (which essentially means any river, stream or lake), and therefore warrants specific consideration, can be highlighted as a priority for restoration action, if the action restores natural function. Restoration of natural habitat function of rivers and streams can involve many different practical measures – 21 measures are explicitly itemised within the river and stream restoration priorities layer. These are Physical Restoration Establish riparian zone of natural vegetation Establish at least patchy cover of native riparian trees Allow natural delivery and retention of woody material Restore natural mire-stream transition zone Restore natural lateral movement of the channel Remove in-channel structures Restore natural channel bed levels Remove flood embankments Re-establish alluvial woodland Restore natural floodplain wetland mosaic Hydrological Restoration Restore natural springflows to headwater streams Restore natural flow regime Remove land drainage Chemical Restoration Target critical pollution source areas of the catchment Establish naturally functioning habitat mosaics on critical areas Establish effective soil/nutrient conservation regimes on critical areas Biological Restoration Strategic area-based control of non-native species Reduce intensity of/halt fish stocking Halt fishery-driven removal of non-target native fish species Reduce/halt in-channel and marginal weed cutting Eliminate heavy grazing of riparian vegetation This dataset is in the early stages of development and will grow as more partners and stakeholders add their local knowledge. See the Priority Habitat data portal for more information on priority river (including streams) and lake habitats in England, how you can get involved in their protection and restoration, and in particular how you can provide information on the sites you visit to help prioritise conservation action. Other parts of the UK have their own approaches to conserving priority habitats as part of their separate biodiversity strategies. You can also view this data via the Data Display app on the Priority Habitat Data Portal which allows you to easily visualise the different measures being recommended at each site.