More than 150 rare species, including water voles, Atlantic salmon and the oystercatcher wading bird, are recovering in the UK thanks to a £13 million conservation programme.

A grant scheme from public body Natural England funded conservation efforts to help species threatened with extinction. From the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall to Cumbria and Northumberland, 63 different projects – involving research, captive breeding, habitat creation and conservation translocations - have taken place over two years, since August 2023.

The results from the grant scheme, part of Natural England's wider Species Recovery Programme, were published in August 2025, alongside the launch of a new action plan for aiding recovery of more than 1,000 species.

Chair of Natural England Tony Juniper said: “A rising number of nature recovery projects, both large and small, are making a huge difference up and down the country.

“We know we can turn round species decline and improve ecosystems with the right targeted actions, the drive and the funding. But time is running out fast - turning round nature’s decline needs to be a collective endeavour, so this is not just the preserve of dedicated specialists.

"Nature recovery work needs more projects, more volunteers and more money to flow from all sources, particularly the private sector. It will also need to go hand in hand with improved environmental quality, including through reduced pollution.

“In the coming years, habitat management and creation alongside species reintroductions could be a real game changer for the health of ecosystems and help us achieve the country’s legally binding targets.”

Successful initiatives included:

• Four projects to create habitats for water voles including new wetlands and ponds. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust installed 20 water vole ‘motels’ along the banks of a canal in Coventry to provide safe resting and feeding places. In addition, more than 420 water voles were captive-reared and released to help increase population numbers and distribution.
• River habitat improvements to remove passage of Atlantic salmon by West Cumbria Rivers Trust, working with the Freshwater Biological Association. The work also benefitted pearl mussels - 2,475 juvenile mussels were released under licence into streams in Cumbria to bolster the populations.
• Installation of predator fences and water control features across wet grassland, marsh, reedbeds and saline lagoons, by RSPB and Essex Wildlife Trust. The project work in the Blackwater and Colne Estuary had made the site safer for breeding waders.

Natural England's wider Species Recovery Programme, in place for over 30 years, continues its conservation work to benefit wildlife in the future. Recent water-focused projects have created or enhanced over 2,400ha of wildlife-rich habitat, including 143 leaky dams to support species like Atlantic salmon, white-clawed crayfish and freshwater pearl mussel while also reducing flood risk and improving water quality.