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Otters
Since 1997 MVCP has been working to improve the Medway for use by otters. A variety of factors led to the near extinction of otters in Britain:
DDT pesticides poisoned river catchments through out the UK, threatening a lot of wildlife including the otter during the 1950s
Urban development expanded with little thought for wildlife, including railway electrification, massive road construction and riverside developments
Changes in land use and agricultural intensification meant much riverbank vegetation was removed, therefore reducing wildlife, and cover for otters to live and breed
Canalisation and other flood defence structures created unsympathetically meant that parts of rivers become unusable and unsafe for otters to move around in
Working with the Environment Agency, landowners and volunteers MVCP has constructed many artificial Holts, refuges, online ponds, backwaters, and carried out riverside planting throughout the catchment.
Barn Owls
In 1994 MVCP began working with the Environment Agency, Hawk & Owl Trust and local landowners to create a network of barn owl boxes along the River Medway and promote the creation of suitable rough grassland and meadow habitat for them to use.
River Beult SSSI
English Nature has a duty to ensure 95% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest are in favourable condition by 2010.
MVCP has been working in partnership with the EN, the Environment Agency and landowners to improve the River Beult. So far hundreds of trees have been planted, backwaters and ponds re-created and more enhancements are planned.
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