THE Taw river catchment is to benefit from £1.8-million of restoration work over the next three years.

The Taw River Improvement Project (TRIP) aims to improve the health of the vital river ecosystem through targeted habitat management work, and by reducing the amount of pollution entering the river.

Funding will also be used to remove obstacles such as weirs, to create joined up habitats enabling fish and other aquatic animals to move freely between different stretches of river.

The project partnership is led by the North Devon Biosphere Reserve and the Westcountry Rivers Trust, and includes numerous partners ranging from the Devon Wildlife Trust and the River Taw Fisheries Association to the Tarka Country Trust.

Over the next three years, the river will be closely monitored to decide exactly where the projects will be carried out to improve the health of the whole river.

The project will be managed by the environmental charity, the Westcountry Rivers Trust, which made the successful bid to the Environment Agency for funding from the Catchment Restoration Fund (CRF).

Dr Dylan Bright, Westcountry Rivers Trust director, said: 'We have worked with voluntary groups on the Taw river for many years and we have noticed a gradual increase in how much people value the river for a whole variety of reasons.

'Mostly, however, people seem to innately understand that rivers are where everything comes together. The quality of the river reflects how sustainably we live on the land.

'Rivers have been harnessed and put to work during our industrial history and although this is no longer necessary, this historic use has limited the river's ability to protect and provide for us in many other ways.

'Our work will let them run wild again which will enable them to deliver all the other things we need from them which have, until recently, been overlooked.'

Richard Cresswell, Environment Agency director South West, said: 'We have many beautiful and important rivers in the South West. Their quality has been improved tremendously over the past 20 years but there is still a lot to do.

'I really welcome the work being done by partners such as the Westcountry Rivers Trust. These new projects are particularly exciting and will hopefully engage communities in improving their local river environments.'

David Baxter, head of catchment management at the Environment Agency, said: 'The bid from the Westcountry Rivers Trust exemplified what the Catchment Restoration Fund aims to do - consider the catchment as a whole, solve problems through working with a range of partners and, most of all, to deliver benefits across society.

'Water is essential for life and livelihoods. These projects will restore a more balanced approach to land and water management that sustains people and wildlife.'