Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2008 | Page 72

life

COUNTRYSIDE, WILDLIFE & FARMING

Water vole rescue
needs to start now…
before it’s too late
Recent headlines stating that “water voles
have become the fastest declining mammal
in Britain” are quick to draw to our
attention the fact that sadly another native
mammal is under threat of extinction.
For a long time “Ratty”, as water voles
became affectionately known through
Kenneth Grahame’s classic book “Wind
in the Willows,” were a familiar sight
on many rivers and waterways. With the
centenary of this novel upon us, now is
the time to act swiftly to ensure that water
voles can be restored to many of the sites
that they have so swiftly disappeared from.
The reasons for the decline are complex
but it would appear that there has been
a steady decline of water voles from as
far back as the turn of the 20th century.
It is thought that water voles have
disappeared from 95% of their original
UK wetland locations since 1900. This
reflects the trends of changes in waterway
management, land drainage, habitat loss
and pollution. However, since the late
1950s, another factor in the form of the
accidental introduction of the non-native
American mink has accelerated the
decline.
The Isle of Wight’s water voles are faring
a little better in terms of the national
trend, and relatively stable populations on
the Island have been carefully monitored
by the Trust over the last ten years.
The Island’s gently flowing chalk rivers,
with well vegetated banks and relatively
soft substrate, provide ideal habitats
for water voles colonies. However a
combination of over-management and

72

By Abi Jarvis
manicuring of river banks, increasing
urbanisation and over-abstraction of
water is having a negative impact. This
means that unfortunately not all the
Island’s rivers have viable populations
and the distribution of water voles is
changing.
Even so the Isle of Wight remains a
key site for water voles and, with the
added advantage that as yet there are no
American mink on the Island, it is likely
that the island has the best population left
in the whole of the UK.
The loss of water voles across the UK
should be a matter of concern for us all.
The potential disappearance of ‘Ratty’

Water Vole by Darin Smith

from our riverbanks means more than the
loss of one part of the wetland jigsaw.
Good waterside habitat is not only vital
for ‘Ratty’ but also supports a host of
other wildlife including kingfishers,
damselflies, Atlantic salmon, brown
trout and kingcups. Bearing in mind
the national picture of overall steep
decline, it is essential that we do all we
can to protect and expand the remaining
water vole populations on the Island.
Consequently we are engaging in a number
of water vole recovery and reintroduction
projects to try and ensure a better future
for this charismatic creature.
To help save the water vole and protect
other wetland wildlife we have launched
an appeal to raise £55,000 to carry out

Water Vole by Chris Bean

www.wightfrog.com/islandlife