Unlocking the River Severn for People and Wildlife – Virtual Talk

A celebration of World Rivers Day, to talk about the importance of the River Severn to people, wildlife and the Unlocking the Severn project

World Rivers Day is a celebration of the world’s waterways. It highlights the many values of rivers and strives to increase public awareness

On this day, we want to share an insight into our project to unlock the UK’s longest river for people and wildlife. Unlocking the Severn is a conservation and river engagement project for people and wildlife, being delivered by Canal & River Trust, Severn Rivers Trust, Environment Agency and Natural England. It is made possible thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the European Union LIFE Programme.

We will share the story of the plucky twaite shad. One of the UK’s rarest fish, shad are members of the Herring Family and live most of their lives out at sea. However, every spring hundreds of thousands of twaite shad used to migrate up the River Severn to reach their natural spawning grounds. But since the industrial revolution, when weirs were installed on the river, this annual migration has been blocked and the twaite shad population on the river rapidly dwindled.

Hear how modern engineering will redress the historic wrong and re-open 158 miles of habitat to benefit shad an a host of other fish including other endangered fish such as salmon and eel. And how our project wants to encourage us all to rebuild our connection to the river and it’s wildlife.

If you would like to attend this FREE event then follow the link below to eventbrite and book your ticket!