A team of dedicated volunteers from Richmond and District Angling Society joined forces with Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust (YDRT) in a hands-on restoration event at Skeeby Beck.
The collaborative project focused on the translocation of Ranunculus − a native aquatic plant known for its wide-ranging benefits to freshwater ecosystems.
Volunteers carefully dug up clumps of the plant, split them, and then replanted the sections in strategic locations along the beck, including areas suffering from erosion.
“Ranunculus is a powerhouse for stream health,” said Jennifer Lee, volunteer and engagement officer at YDRT.
“It improves water flow, oxygenates the water and provides essential habitat for insects and juvenile fish. What’s amazing is that once it’s replanted, it just looks like it’s always been there.”
The ecological intervention is part of a broader programme by YDRT to enhance the health of Skeeby Beck, a watercourse still recovering from a major pollution incident in 2023.
Other recent efforts have included targeted coppicing, invasive non-native species removal and surveying for weir removal, an intervention that restores the natural flow of a watercourse and supports the natural movement and breeding of fish.
YDRT have also been up-skilling the local community in riverfly monitoring which involves surveying for aquatic invertebrates as riverflies are positive indicators of river health.
By translocating ranunculus to several new locations, the team aims to improve and vary the flow of water in the beck which will help create better habitats, further improve water quality as well as supporting spawning gravels for fish.
Ron Wood, chairman of Richmond and District Angling Society, said: “The pollution incident back in 2023 has encouraged the whole community to become more activity involved in the health of the beck.
“Concerted efforts over the last couple of years have made a huge difference and we are already starting to see the fish return – with volunteer events like today just enhancing things even more.”
