£120,000 plan to help otters breed

10:50am Sunday 16th November 2008

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Otter enthusiasts have begun a three-year project to help clear the River Aire of harmful invasive species of plants and encourage the mammals to breed.

The Mid Aire Otters and River Project, run by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT), will focus on five sites along the river and canal corridor from Bingley to Kirkstall in Leeds.

As well as providing comfortable breeding grounds for otters, the project hopes to create new areas of reed bed and wetland, and support habitats for sand martins, bats and other species dependent on the river and canal.

Foreign species such as Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam have put native species under threat.

Project leader Don Vine said: “We are trying to control them as best we can but they are rife right along the river so part of the job is trying to clear them out.

“Knotweed is a problem everywhere across the country and it is a big issue among builders.

“It is a really powerful plant and it has been known for builders to dig them out and build houses only for the plant to return five years later.”

Mr Vine, a conservation officer for the YWT, said people were surprised by the high population of otters along the river.

He said: “There’s quite a high population but one of the threats to otters is diminishing habitat and food supply.

“They also need secure sites where they can lie up during the day.

“They are mainly morning and evening feeders so they need a place to lay up during the day.”

The project has received £120,000 funding for three years from the Sita Trust Enriching Programme.

The YWT will work in partnership with Bradford Council Countryside and Rights of Way, Friends of Buck Wood, Bradford Motor Education Project, friends of Denso Marston in Baildon, the Environment Agency and HSBC.

Three sites in the district will be focused on by the project – Dowley Gap in Bingley, Buck Mill, just below Buck Wood in Thackley, and Dobson Lock in Apperley Bridge.

Mr Vine said: “We are hoping to stabilise and protect the otter population that we have got already and hopefully encourage it to increase.

“But we also want to protect the sites that we have got and are being used.”

e-mail: james.rush@telegraphandargus.co.uk