Environmental analysis news: Biodiversity in river will benefit after re-direction work

Biodiversity in a Dorset waterway has improved following work to alter its course and profile, the Environment Agency has said.

The South Winterborne stream was restored to its original course as part of a project designed to conserve and enhance the rare winterborne streams and their heritage.

Work carried out included re-profiling the stream to give it a natural meander and ensuring that the sides were gently sloping rather than sheer.

The river at Winterborne Came, the site of the restoration scheme, had previously been redirected to run along a straight course, which caused the channel to become much deeper and develop steeper sides.

A 400m stretch of the waterway was also turned into a chalk stream habitat, the agency added.

Sarah Williams, the chalk stream conservation officer at the Dorset Wildlife Trust, thanked the landowner for supporting the project and commented: "It has been fabulous to be involved with the actual digging of the new more natural channel, allowing wildlife to move back into such a rare habitat."

Winterbornes are a rare type of chalk stream that only flow at certain times of year as they are fed by the groundwater.

An earlier project on the River Winterborne, which was highly successful, sparked the plans for the South Winterborne initiative, according to the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty partnership.

Posted by Claire Manning