Natural Course

An award-winning scheme which restored a stretch of the River Medlock has been further boosted after juvenile brown trout were found in the watercourse. Previously known as the Red River, the Medlock underwent a £250,000 transformation at Clayton Vale which re-naturalised the waterway to encourage habitats for wildlife. Juvenile brown…

On 15th May, the EU LIFE Programme monitor visited the Natural Course project to get an update on progress and visit some project sites. After a general update on project outcomes and plans for the future, the team took the monitor to visit the SuDS project developed by United Utilities…

20 trees including cherry, field maple and sweetgum have been planted as part of a £2 million Bury New Road regeneration programme and the EU LIFE funded Natural Course project.   The new street trees have been planted to help tackle surface water flooding, as well as improve the look…

Jumping in puddles has taken on new meaning at one Manchester primary school after experts stepped in to help stop rain being a drain on school budgets. In a scheme which could save millions if replicated across Manchester, with thanks to funding through the Natural Course project, a team headed…

Natural Course launched the outputs from its Natural Capital Account and Ecosystem Services and Opportunity Mapping Study for the Irwell Management Catchment at a dissemination and training workshop held on 23rd April in Manchester.[1] The report provides compelling evidence that the natural environment of the Irwell Management Catchment provides significant…

Mersey Rivers Trust have now trained more than 50 River Guardian volunteers to take regular water samples, to help identify changes in the water quality in the Mersey Basin. The training is part of the Love Your River and Call of Nature campaigns and will contribute to the water quality…

Since December 2017, volunteers have been out surveying the River Irk in the northern parts of Greater Manchester to map drains, pipes and outfalls that potentially feed into the River Irk, generating a comprehensive map of possible sources of diffuse pollution which may be impacting the water quality of the…

Recent sightings of otters are suggesting that the heavily industrialised rivers in Greater Manchester are showing signs of significant improvement, encouraging them to come back to the region.  Greater Manchester has struggled to re-establish the otter due to higher than average habitat loss, pollution, and human population density leading to…

Over 70 delegates attended Greater Manchester’s Natural Capital Annual Conference to discuss the opportunities and benefits around connecting people with nature. Representatives from across Greater Manchester’s environment, health, planning, utilities and transport sectors attended the conference, hosted by Manchester Museum, to share evidence for the many benefits found in connecting people…

The Rivers Trust has joined Keep Britain Tidy in assembling an army of #litterheroes for a UK wide mass clean-up. 80% of plastic in the oceans comes from land, and rivers are a significant pathway for it to get there. Natural Course is playing its part in the campaign by…