In a heartening scene straight out of The Wind in the Willows, water voles – known as “Nature’s Engineers” – are swimming back into waterways in the West of England after more than two decades of absence.

Thanks to a pioneering reintroduction initiative led by the West of England Nature Partnership (WENP) in collaboration with Bristol Zoological Society, these beloved semi-aquatic mammals are re-establishing a foothold along the Severn Shoreline Levels and Moors.

The project marks a significant step forward for local biodiversity and is part of the region’s broader Severn Shoreline restoration programme.

 

Made famous by Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, water voles are often described as 'nature's engineers'.

Water voles returning to rivers and streams after 20-year absence

The sighting of a vole held up work on Great Yarmouth's third crossing.
Credit: PA

Construction had already been delayed by the discovery of a Second World War bomb, which exploded as it was being defused.

Vole holds up work on £121m bridge where bomb exploded

301122-water vole- Barry Batchelor/PA Archive/PA Images

Sixty watervoles were released in summer 2022 into the water meadows of the River Avon south of Ringwood to try to re-establish the population. 

Reintroduction of water voles boosts other wildlife, says conservation charity

150 water voles are being released in six places on the National Trust's Holnicote Estate on Exmoor.

Water Voles

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Water voles returning to rivers and streams after 20-year absence

Vole holds up work on £121m bridge where bomb exploded

Reintroduction of water voles boosts other wildlife, says conservation charity

Water Voles return to Exmoor home