So far during Pond Week we’ve explored the world of freshwater amphibians, discovered the underwater soundscapes of ponds, explored how GWT are supporting wetland creatures at the nature reserves and much more.

This week is also a great time to shine a light on some fantastic projects happening across the county led by other organisations, todays being an ambitious river conservation and engagement project called Unlocking the Severn.

The River Severn is the UK’s longest river running for 220 miles, starting from Powys in Wales across two other counties before it reaches us in Gloucestershire and opens into the wide Severn Estuary.

Being naturally navigable, it acted as a highway for people to transport their goods and as a barrier to defend them for hundreds of years. It also acts as a migratory highway for many species of fish, from eels to salmon.

It is, however, another fish that has inspired the largest and most ambitious river restoration project of its kind in Europe – the twaite shad.

The twaite shad is one of the UK’s rarest fish, though hundreds of thousands of twaite shad used to travel up the Severn to reach their natural spawning grounds. Weirs were installed in the mid-nineteenth century to help larger barges use the river for trade, but they blocked the annual shad migration and their numbers sadly plummeted.

“This is a particularly exciting time of year, as we await the first sightings of twaite shad in the River Severn” says Jennie Hermolle, Communications & Marketing Officer. “Twaite shad are actually sea-dwelling fish, but they come into freshwater in the spring and migrate up the river to spawn far up the river.”

Unlocking the Severn aims to reconnect people with the Severn while restoring 158 miles of river habitat not only for the twaite shad but for many other important fish species as well.

Discover more about this fantastic project by watching the film below, produced by Nina Constable Media and presented by Monty Halls.

“This year is the first time in nearly 180 years that River Severn has been fully unlocked for the shad migration once again. As pioneer individuals reclaim their historic spawning grounds, we look forward to seeing the population recover over future generations of shad” says Corinne Spiller, Communications and Events Apprentice.

There are plenty of riverside activities to get involved in this month and be sure to follow Unlocking the Severn on Twitter and Facebook to stay in the loop. If you would like to be a part of this project, have a look at the ‘get involved’ section on the Unlocking the Severn website which includes details of volunteering opportunities. 

The Canal & River Trust (lead), Severn Rivers Trust, Environment Agency and Natural England are the partner organizations for delivering this project.  Unlocking the Severn is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the EU LIFE Programme, as well as The Waterloo Foundation and the partners.