AN ambitious project to revitalise the heritage of a picture-postcard river could be in line for funding worth £2m.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has given initial approval to a bid by the North York Moors National Park to support schemes for the River Rye.

The wide-ranging project – known as Ryevitalise – has been designed to help “understand and enhance” the Rye’s verdant valleys and clear waters.

The River Rye and its tributaries rise on the moorland and flow through clear upland streams that carve out steep river valleys until the land flattens and the river becomes slower and broader taking on the character of the undulating Howardian Hills and the flat lowlands of the Vale of Pickering.

And the themes of Ryevitalise will centre on the water itself - its environment, quality and management as well as how it can be reconnected with people.

The park’s director of conservation David Renwick said: “The funding will allow us to work with local people, farmers and community groups to help them take ownership of the River Rye and to take action to secure its future.

“A future of abundant wildlife – bats, crayfish, otter and clouds of mayfly, of rich landscape full of tradition and poetry - and to share and tell stories of its past to inform it’s future.

“Water is at the heart of the Rye landscape, its watercourses form the area’s arteries and we hope to explore how water links us to it and how it sustains local culture and the environment.”

It is expected to provide widespread opportunities for volunteer involvement, enabling people to learn practical conservation skills and enjoy a range of well-being benefits.

The scheme will also engage with 19 primary schools and four secondary schools allowing the next generation to discover the functions of the river landscape past and present.

Children will be able to share data and carry out river investigations across the catchment and the scheme will literally bring the river into the classroom, such as studies of the lifestyle of the brown trout.

The chief executive if the HLF, Ros Kerslake, said: “Our historic landscapes are incredibly important to people’s wellbeing and need to be protected.

“Some of the landscapes we are funding today are in the most remote parts of the UK; others form an important backdrop to some of our largest cities.

“What they all have in common is the potential to make people’s lives better, which is why they are so richly deserving of National Lottery money.”

A development grant of £275,000 has been awarded by HLF to enable the partnership to develop its plans and seek final approval for the full grant amount of £2m.