A funding boost will help restore wetlands across the South Downs region and help raise awareness about the vital importance of water in all our lives.
National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £1.7m to the “Downs to the Sea” initiative, which will increase and restore a network of vital wetlands across and around the South Downs National Park.
Downs to the Sea will help carry out much-needed restoration work to a number of internationally designated wildlife sites, such as RSPB Pulborough Brooks and Pagham Harbour in West Sussex. The initiative will restore 15 ponds in the National Park to create biodiversity hotspots and support the movement of wildlife between sites, increasing resilience to a warming climate.
A range of activities are also planned to connect people with waterways, including volunteering to help rivers and social prescribing to tap into waters’ benefits for health and wellbeing.
It comes as wetlands are under increasing threat from climate change, water usage, pollution, flooding, drought, and fragmentation. Some two thirds of all freshwater species are supported by ponds and yet the UK has lost half of all its ponds since 1900. In the South Downs National Park, a survey of pond locations showed that almost 70 per cent are in poor condition, or have disappeared from the landscape, resulting in large swathes of downland where no surface water is available for wildlife.
The initiative is a partnership between the South Downs National Park Authority, South Downs National Park Trust, RSPB, Brighton & Hove City Council, Western Sussex Rivers Trust, and Writing Our Legacy.
Tim Slaney, Chief Executive (Interim) of the South Downs National Park Authority, said: “This significant funding is wonderful news for the South Downs National Park, its surrounding communities and the wider area.
“With a network of rivers, chalk streams, ponds, wetlands, coastline and a major aquifer, the South Downs is already of a landscape of many important ‘blue’ spaces that support both nature and people.
“Yet, like so many parts of England, these water environments are under increasing threat and it’s absolutely vital that we work to together to protect and enhance this precious resource, in terms of quality, scarcity and where appropriate access to enhance our well-being.
“With this funding and alongside our partners, we’re looking forward to restoring and improving vital wetlands, ponds and rivers, increasing the landscape’s resilience to climate change.
“We also want to increase awareness of the pivotal role that water plays in all our lives, connecting people to water for its health and wellbeing benefits and also helping to upskill local communities to be able to look after these watercourses.”
