Conservations bodies across the north of England are collaborating to prevent the UK’s only native freshwater crayfish disappearing from streams and rivers.<\/p>\n
White-clawed crayfish were once common but populations have declined by an estimated 70-80% in recent decades due to pollution, habitat loss, and the spread of invasive non-native species.<\/p>\n
The project will utilise local knowledge, practical conservation skills, and scientific expertise to identify where populations are most at risk, and long-term refuge sites that could help secure their future.<\/p>\n
The Wildlife Trusts described the programme as a “significant milestone for white-clawed crayfish conservation”. <\/p>\n
While mostly unseen, the crayfish play an important part in the natural balance of waterways.<\/p>\n
They help recycle dead plant and animal matter, support water quality, and provide food for other native wildlife, including herons, otters, eels, brown trout and salmon.<\/p>\n
Northern partners involved in the national recovery project include Eden Rivers, Lune Rivers, West Cumbria Rivers, Ribble Rivers, Tees Rivers and South Cumbria Rivers trusts.<\/p>\n
Also involved are the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, the Environment Agency, and Natural England.<\/p>\n
Together, they will support vital conservation work across the region, with a focus on crayfish surveys, population monitoring and identifying potential Ark sites – safe refuge habitats where white-clawed crayfish can be protected from invasive species and crayfish plague.<\/p>\n
Stan Smith, head of nature and species recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “This programme represents a significant milestone for white-clawed crayfish conservation. <\/p>\n
“For the first time, we have the opportunity to coordinate action at a truly national scale, bringing together the expertise of conservationists, scientists and practitioners from across England.<\/p>\n
“Through a combination of targeted nature recovery efforts, breeding and reintroduction programmes, and innovative research, we can give this iconic native species a lifeline.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conservations bodies across the north of England are collaborating to prevent the UK’s only native freshwater crayfish disappearing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-722580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}