Last updated: June 2024
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has completed an urban river restoration on the Guphill Brook that aims to restore the brook's natural features and enhance the surrounding habitat. "The project [is expected to] bring multiple benefits to diminishing wildlife and deprived local communities but also importantly to flood risk reduction, which is becoming ever more important with the increased negative effects of climate change." (Ref. 1)
Source: Ref. 2
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Blue infrastructure
- Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
- In-land wetlands, peatlands, swamps, and moors
- Green areas for water management
- Swales and filter strips
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Riverbank/Lakeside greens
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Green space creation and/or management
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Flood protection
- Improvements to water quality
Focus
Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas, Ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems, Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity
Project objectives
“The project’s aim is to restore the brook’s natural features and enhance the surrounding habitat.” (Ref. 1) It is part of a larger effort to improve water quality to meet the objectives of the Water Framework Directive (Ref. 3).
The River Restoration on Guphill Brook's project goals include:
“1. Enhance the Guphill Brook and associated floodplain through restoring the natural geomorphological features. 2. Create onsite backwaters and associated wetland features. 3. Form a series of new wetlands to filter water flowing into and through the Guphill Brook, improving water quality. 4. Widen buffer strips, create wildflower habitat. 5. Increase the shading of part of the watercourse to reduce water temperatures. 6. Provide habitat to facilitate a water vole recolonisation or potential re-introduction.” (Ref. 2)
Implementation activities
“Re- profiled banks of the brook to restore a more natural flow; Increased area of fish spawning gravels and in-stream vegetation; 2 backwater areas totalling 100m²; Enhance 280m² buffer strip grassland.” (Ref. 2)
“remove areas of Himalayan balsam and to create valuable wildflower-rich meadows alongside the river. These will be sown and planted by local volunteers and will provide not only a source of food for water voles and invertebrates such as bees and butterflies but will act as a natural highway helping wildlife move between isolated habitats.” (Ref. 1)
“Creation of pools connected to the river will give fish and invertebrates a place to rest and shelter but also importantly, have been designed to provide refuge and food for our most charming but sadly also most declined water dweller, the water vole.” (Ref. 1)
Increase shading of part of watercourse to reduce water temperatures. (ref 2)
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
- Restore wetlands and/or coastal ecosystems to dissipate the effects of flooding and/or storms
- Implement sustainable urban drainage infrastructure (e.g. to make space for water)
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
- Create new habitats
- Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity
- Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect native species
- Undertake specific measures to protect endangered species
- Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
- Control and clean invasive alien species
- Means for conservation governance
- Manage biological resources for conservation and sustainable use
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Restore native species
- Restore valued species
- Restore endangered species
- Clear and control invasive alien species
- Restore ecological connectivity
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Researchers/University
- Citizens or community groups
- Other
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Private foundation/trust
- Other
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Dissemination of information and education
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is undertaking the urban river restoration in partnership with the Environment Agency, Coventry City Council and The Naturesave Trust (The Naturesave Trust was established as the charitable arm of Naturesave Insurance.). (Ref. 1)
Local Volunteers to assist with wildflower seeding, planting, and community engagement (Ref. 2)
Consulting/ Advisory (wetland specialist consultants, Middlemarch Environmental, Wild Trout Trust) (Ref. 2)
Sherbourne Partnership (Ref. 2)
Funding from Catchment Partnership Fund (from Environment Agency) (Ref. 2,7)
“Community engagement: include: Presentation to local residents association; Letters to all local residents; queries answered; Posters on site 10 days before start of work; Sherbourne Partnership and local volunteers to assist with wildflower seeding, planting and community engagement, support from Coventry City Council.” (Ref. 2)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Yes
(The Water Framework Directive (Ref. 2, 3) )
... a national policy or strategy?
Yes
(‘The UK Biodiversity Action Plan’ (with regard to the measures concerning the Water Vole). (Ref. 4) )
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
€10,000 - €50,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public national budget
- Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
- Other
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
- Other
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
- Environmental quality
- Improved soil quality
- Water management and blue areas
- Improved water quality
- Increased protection against flooding
- Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
- Increased protection of threatened species
- Improved prevention or control of invasive alien species
- Enhanced support of pollination
- Increased spread of native/heirloom/open-pollinated seed
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts, Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
References
Ref. 1. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) River Restoration on the Guphill Brook. [Not available in 2020].
Ref. 2. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (2016) Warwickshire Avon Catchment Partnership. Rowe, G. Precious, T. Living landscape, WWT. [Document provided].
Ref. 3. The Wild Trout Trust (2015) Guphill (or Brookstray) Brook, Allesley, Coventry. Advisory Visit. [Document provided].
Ref. 4. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) Coventry Water Vole Project. [Not available in 2020].
Ref. 5. Warwickshire GOV (2012) Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull Local Biodiversity Action Plan. Action for Wildlife. Water Vole. [Not available in 2020].
Ref. 6. Coventry City Council (2014) Coventry Green Belt Review 2014 Ecological Review. Habitat Biodiversity Audit. [Document provided].
Ref. 7. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. (2016). Catchment Partnerships Action Fund: Environment Agency Report 2015-16. [Document provided].
Ref. 2. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (2016) Warwickshire Avon Catchment Partnership. Rowe, G. Precious, T. Living landscape, WWT. [Document provided].
Ref. 3. The Wild Trout Trust (2015) Guphill (or Brookstray) Brook, Allesley, Coventry. Advisory Visit. [Document provided].
Ref. 4. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) Coventry Water Vole Project. [Not available in 2020].
Ref. 5. Warwickshire GOV (2012) Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull Local Biodiversity Action Plan. Action for Wildlife. Water Vole. [Not available in 2020].
Ref. 6. Coventry City Council (2014) Coventry Green Belt Review 2014 Ecological Review. Habitat Biodiversity Audit. [Document provided].
Ref. 7. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. (2016). Catchment Partnerships Action Fund: Environment Agency Report 2015-16. [Document provided].
Source: Ref. 2
Source: Ref. 2
Source: Ref. 2
Source: Ref. 2
Source: Ref. 2