Member Article

Crowd Ratty with your funds

The Kielder Water Vole Project, delivered by Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Forestry Commission and Tyne Rivers Trust, has this week launched its very first Restoring Ratty crowdfunder page.

The aim of the project is to restore populations of this endangered mammal to the Kielder catchment of the North Tyne with a view to their eventual spread throughout western reaches of Northumberland.

The water vole was once a common and familiar mammal along our ditches, rivers and streams. Unfortunately, habitat declines, pollution of waterways, industrialisation of agriculture, housing development and predation by American mink that escaped from fur farms, have all led to severe water vole declines since the 1960s. It is thought that 94% of water voles have disappeared from places in the UK where they were once prevalent.

Although the project is largely funded by money raised by National Lottery players through a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the team still needs to source additional financial support to help with its 2018 water vole releases.

All money received will enable the project’s dedicated staff and volunteers to place approximately 500 voles into over 100 release pens in the remote parts of Kielder. We are aiming to carry out two releases in 2018, in June and August. In 2017, over 500 water voles were released into parts of Kielder Forest.

For each level of financial support there will be a free gift, with every person donating £10 or more being entered into a prize draw to join the team for the once in a lifetime opportunity to release their own water vole in Kielder on Saturday 16 June 2018.

Any donation, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated so why not visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/restoringratty and support this wonderful project. The page is live until Friday 13 April.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Northumberland Wildlife Trust .