The Wildlife Trusts welcome brighter future for water voles

6th February 2008

Kate Stokes, Water for Wildlife Manager at Cornwall Wildlife Trust said: “This important announcement has been a long time coming.  The water vole is Britain’s fastest declining mammal and is a priority Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species.  Cornwall is the only county where I believe water voles are extinct.”

The recommendation for full protection was made as part of the fourth Quinquennial Review of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 2002.  However, it has taken six years for the recommendation to reach the Minister for the Environment, Joan Ruddock, and to be accepted by Defra.

It will now be against the law to intentionally kill a water vole or to intentionally, or recklessly, damage or disturb the places they use for shelter or protection, meaning that their future is a safer one.

The water vole has declined nationally due to habitat loss and fragmentation. This has been exacerbated by predation from American mink. In 1990 there were seven million water voles in the UK.  By 1998 numbers had crashed to less than a million and they have since continued to fall.  Previous legal protection for water voles, introduced in 1998, extended only to the animal’s habitat, not to the animal itself.  This has proved a source of confusion, resulting in the loss of important water vole colonies.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We’re absolutely delighted water voles have finally been given this life line. Water voles have been lost from many parts of the UK, including areas where they were once widespread such as Cornwall, but this excellent news will undoubtedly help our efforts to bring the water vole back from the brink.”

Alastair Driver, National Conservation Manager for the Environment Agency and Chair of the UK Water Vole BAP Group welcomed the announcement: “This is great news for water vole conservation. It not only serves to minimise deliberate persecution and accidental poisoning, but also clarifies the law for planners and developers. Water vole populations have declined by 90% since 1990 and this added protection will make a real difference to the work being done to conserve this charismatic species.”

Kate said: “We have been assessing exactly why water voles have been lost in the County. In conjunction with other partners, such as the Environment Agency and South West Water as the guardians of our waterways, we are considering the feasibility of reintroducing water voles to Cornwall. This long term project will involve landscape-scale wetland restoration and will benefit many species. It is a last resort for rescuing Ratty in Cornwall.”

To find out more about the work of Cornwall Wildlife Trust, visit www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk.

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