The project, which runs until March 2025, is investing £491,740 in a range of measures to restore and create vital wetland habitat to support the species; boosting water vole numbers, and a targeted programme of mink control across 900 hectares of wetland habitat and more than 50km of rivers. Using lessons from successes in other projects the Trust aims to restore water vole populations in at least three catchments across the county (Erewash, Sherwood Forest and Idle).
Earlier this week, the water voles, specially bred by a team led by Jenny Tratt, Water Vole Specialist at Derek Gow Consultancy, were introduced into a 58 hectare enclosure – originally created to enable the reintroduction of beavers in 2021 - at Idle Valley Nature Reserve.