A NEW initiative has been launched to improve and safeguard the ecosystem of an important river for future generations.

The 28-mile River Esk runs through some of North Yorkshire’s most stunning scenery and its catchment area is almost wholly taken from the North York Moors National Park.

It is home to a variety of wildlife living in and around the river, including water voles, Atlantic salmon, sea trout, native brown trout, sand martins, dippers, kingfishers and otters, which are found in increasing numbers.

It is also the only river in the region that is still home to the freshwater pearl mussels. Earlier this year the Freshwater Biological Association estimated there were about 1,000 left in the river, but said their numbers were threatened by pollution and sediment build-up, together with decline in fish populations and habitat degradation.

Now a new partnership has been set up to improve the habitat surrounding the river and its catchment and promote the importance of the water environment to local communities.

The River Esk and Coastal Streams Catchment Partnership is made up of the Yorkshire Esk Rivers Trust (YERT) and the North York Moors National Park Authority (NYMNPA). It will involve pooling knowledge and resources in improving the River Esk’s valuable ecosystems.

The partnership is currently delivering the Glaisdale Beck Restoration Project, funded by Defra, to improve water quality and habitat by working closely with local land managers.

Scarborough and Whitby MP, Robert Goodwill, recently visited the catchment to find out more about these projects and the work being undertaken.

Volunteers with the park authority have been working in Glaisdale on several projects, including fencing work alongside the beck. This allows buffer strips to establish adjacent to the water course, enabling native vegetation and trees to flourish, which in-turn filters out sediments running off the land, preventing them entering the water.

The partnership also teamed up with the Wild Trout Trust earlier in the year and held two demonstration days on Glaisdale Beck, looking at a variety of habitat improvement works such as bank stabilisation, large woody debris and coppicing work, which was well attended by local anglers, land managers and people keen to help care for the Esk catchment.