River Tywi salmon population benefitting from new funding

The Welsh Government has put aside almost £11m to go towards a number of projects to help combat the decline in Wales' wildlife.

Julie James, minister for climate change, named nine large and 17 medium projects to benefit from the new round of Nature Networks funding to strengthen the resilience of Wales’ seas, forests and disappearing grasslands which are home to some of Wales’ most iconic species, including the curlew, otter and bottlenose dolphin.

Their habitats have been inhibited by physical barriers like roads, development and farmland, with migration routes blocked.

This has left a number of species, including the Atlantic salmon, fighting for survival.

The funds have come as scientists are working to save the Atlantic Wild Salmon, which could disappear from Welsh rivers in the next two decades.

Swansea University led project Reconnecting the Salmon Rivers of Wales has benefitted from more than £600,000 from the first round of funding.

The aim of the project is to remove the physical barriers that block migration routes for wild Atlantic salmon and other species in the West Cleddau, East Cleddau, Tywi, Teifi and Usk rivers.

Wild Atlantic salmon return to the river they were born in once in their lifetime to spawn, journeying from the seas, upstream to their birthplace to create the next generation, however, the fish are now met with culverts, dams and weirs that trap them in lower areas of the rivers.

Professor Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, coordinator of the Reconnecting the Salmon Rivers of Wales project, said: “People in Wales have been fortunate enough to enjoy the presence of iconic migratory fish like the Atlantic salmon, the sewin, the sea lamprey, the European eel or the shad for millennia.

“These form part of Welsh culture and are an integral part of Wales’ heritage and natural capital. But the UK has also some of the most fragmented, polluted, and dirtiest rivers in Europe, and the future of our native migratory fish is now under serious threat of extinction.

“A recent report indicates that if nothing is done Atlantic salmon may disappear from most Welsh rivers in as little as 20 or 30 years. We cannot let this happen.

“Our project will restore 141km of fragmented river habitat. Healthy rivers are free-flowing rivers, and it is hoped that this and similar initiatives will make our rivers free-flowing again and help reverse the decline of Atlantic Salmon.”

In the second round of funding, The Wildlife Trist of South and West Wales Limited has been awarded £562,578 for its Marine Indicator Species project which will focus on the seabird species and bottlenose dolphins within the Skomer, Stockholm and the Seas off Pembrokeshire Special Protection Area and the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation.

This will lead to annual monitoring of the breeding seabird populations on the site of special scientific interest and national nature reserves island of Skomer and Stockholm. It will be the only one of its kind in Welsh waters to use acoustic recorders to measure the presence of dolphins.

Plantlife International, the wild plant conservation charity, has received £1m for its Networks Wales project to restore sites of special scientific interest to help reverse the decline of wildflowers and wildlife.

Julie James said: “We all want a Wales that we are proud to pass onto our future generations. Currently they are facing quite a different world if we don’t stand up and act quickly in a Team Wales effort to tackle the climate and nature emergencies.

“Whilst we must do all we can to protect our precious Atlantic wild salmon, healthy, free-flowing rivers will benefit all of our physical and mental wellbeing.

“A thriving population of salmon indicates a clean and well oxygenated river where other species can flourish and tourism can boom. Whether you’re a bather, to-dipper, twitcher, angler or kayaker – a healthy river means a more enjoyable countryside experience.”