Returning the Water Vole

What is it?

Returning the Water Vole is a focused, catchment-scale species recovery programme designed to restore water vole populations across the Gowy catchment and Mersey Washlands.

Water voles were once widespread along Cheshire’s rivers, ditches and streams, but are now absent from 94% of their former range in the county. Habitat loss, river modification, poor water quality and the spread of American mink have pushed populations to the brink. Many remaining colonies are now too small and isolated to recover without targeted intervention.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust is leading a programme that combines mink eradication, habitat restoration, landowner engagement and, where needed, water vole reintroductions or population reinforcement. The core delivery model is a coordinated volunteer trapping network using raft-based detection and rapid response to create a mink-free catchment.

Why is this needed? / Why are we doing this?

Water voles are a priority species for Cheshire, but their recovery is not possible without tackling the pressures that caused their decline.

American mink predation remains one of the most significant barriers to water vole recovery. At the same time, degraded riverbanks, poor water quality and fragmented wetland habitats limit the ability of existing colonies to expand or reconnect.

This project has been developed to create the conditions for long-term water vole recovery by removing mink pressure, improving riparian habitat and reconnecting isolated populations across suitable catchments.

What is it going to deliver?

The programme will deliver:

• Catchment-scale water vole recovery across the Gowy and Mersey Washlands
• Mink eradication through a coordinated volunteer trapping network
• Raft-based mink detection and rapid response
• Protection and enhancement of key water vole habitats
• Improved bankside vegetation
• Restoration of wetland features
• Landowner engagement and advice on managing land for riparian wildlife
• Reintroductions and population reinforcement where natural recovery is not viable
• Stronger partnerships with landowners, volunteers and local communities
• A long-term ambition to establish a mink-free catchment by 2030

White-letter Hairstreak Butterfly

What is it?

Project to Minimise Species Vulnerability: White-letter Hairstreak is a landscape-scale species recovery initiative focused on increasing habitat availability and ecological resilience for the threatened White-letter Hairstreak (WLH) butterfly across Cheshire and Warrington.

The White-letter Hairstreak is closely associated with elm trees, particularly Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra), which historically grew widely across Cheshire. However, Dutch Elm Disease (DED) has devastated elm populations across the landscape, leaving remaining trees fragmented and isolated. Existing WLH colonies are now vulnerable due to the loss of connected breeding habitat.

The project builds upon an existing Butterfly Conservation programme working with landowners and local partners to restore elm habitat through strategic landscape-scale planting. The initiative combines the planting of Wych Elm with smaller numbers of disease-resistant elm varieties, including Ulmus ‘Sapporo Autumn Gold’, which has proven suitable for WLH breeding and more resilient to DED.

The programme also supports community nurseries, volunteer-led propagation, species monitoring and long-term ecological mapping to reconnect fragmented colonies and reduce species vulnerability.

Why is this needed? / Why are we doing this?

The White-letter Hairstreak butterfly has become increasingly vulnerable due to the widespread decline of elm trees caused by Dutch Elm Disease.

While isolated Wych Elm trees still survive across Cheshire, habitat fragmentation means remaining butterfly populations are often disconnected and vulnerable to local extinction. Existing surveys within the Butterfly Conservation branch area have also failed to identify surviving Field Elm populations, highlighting the scale of historical loss.
Without strategic intervention, suitable habitat will continue to decline, reducing the species’ ability to disperse and establish resilient populations.

This project has been developed to restore connected elm networks across Cheshire by combining habitat creation, volunteer engagement, community propagation and long-term monitoring. The programme builds upon approaches already proven successful both nationally and within Cheshire itself, where WLH butterflies have successfully colonised newly created habitat.

What is it going to deliver?

The programme will deliver:

 Strategic Elm Habitat Creation

• Planting of Wych Elm and disease-resistant elm species across the LNRS area
• Integration of elm planting into woodland creation and urban tree replacement schemes
• Strategic landscape-scale habitat connectivity focused on areas within 5km of known or suspected WLH colonies
• Recommended planting ratio of approximately 15 Wych Elm to 1 disease-resistant elm

Community Nurseries & Local Provenance Tree Growing

• Seed collection from locally sourced elm trees
• Propagation through community nurseries and volunteer networks
• Development of locally resilient elm stock
• Support for Cheshire Wildlife Trust tree growing programmes

Species Monitoring & Ecological Mapping

• Mapping of existing elm locations and new planting sites
• Centralised ecological data collection and monitoring
• Mapping of WLH sightings and colony locations
• Integration with iRecord and Butterfly Conservation MapMate datasets
• Monitoring for Dutch Elm Disease and replanting where required

Volunteer & Community Engagement

• Volunteer training in elm identification and WLH monitoring
• GPS recording and citizen science participation
• Expansion of local planting partnerships and community involvement
• Long-term stewardship and monitoring support

The project aims to create connected and resilient elm habitats capable of supporting sustainable White-letter Hairstreak populations across Cheshire and Warrington.

LNRS Priorities and Actions / LNP Goals:

The project supports the following species action:

• White-letter Hairstreak: Create suitable habitat to minimise vulnerability

This project aligns with the following Cheshire Local Nature Partnership goals: 

Project Species Reintroduction: Large Heath Butterfly

What is it?

Project Species Reintroduction: Large Heath Butterfly is a landscape-scale species recovery initiative focused on restoring populations of the threatened Large Heath butterfly across lowland mossland sites within the Cheshire and Warrington LNRS area.

The project builds upon Butterfly Conservation’s “Making Peatlands Work for Lepidoptera” initiative and successful reintroduction work delivered through the Manchester Mosses Project led by Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

The Large Heath butterfly has been lost from much of the landscape as peatland and moss habitats have become fragmented, degraded and dried out. The programme will combine peatland restoration, habitat assessment, species monitoring and targeted reintroduction activity to support the return of the species to suitable sites across Cheshire.

The initiative also includes wider ecological surveying, volunteer engagement and opportunities to support associated invertebrate species recovery.

Why is this needed? / Why are we doing this?

Lowland mosses and peatlands are among the UK’s most threatened habitats, yet they play a critical role in biodiversity, carbon storage and water regulation.

Historic drainage, fragmentation and habitat degradation have resulted in the loss of the Large Heath butterfly from much of the Cheshire landscape. Without intervention, opportunities for species recovery and peatland restoration may continue to decline.

This project has been developed to restore ecological resilience across mossland habitats while supporting species recovery, volunteer participation and long-term peatland conservation.

The programme also supports wider LNRS peatland restoration priorities and species reintroduction ambitions.

What is it going to deliver?

The project will deliver:

• Mapping and assessment of historical and existing mossland habitats
• Volunteer training and species monitoring programmes
• Habitat health assessment and ecological recording
• Site suitability assessment for Large Heath butterfly reintroduction
• Development of a costed species reintroduction proposal
• Potential harvesting of gravid females from donor sites subject to permissions
• Larval husbandry and translocation support with Chester Zoo
• Centralised ecological mapping and data collection
• Wider invertebrate surveying including Gnaphosa leporina spider surveys
• Long-term support for peatland and mossland restoration

The programme aims to establish self-sustaining Large Heath butterfly populations within suitable restored habitats across the LNRS area.

LNRS Priorities and Actions / LNP Goals:

This project aligns with the following Cheshire Local Nature Partnership goals: