River Fleet Headwater Restoration Project

The project aims to restore fish and other aquatic life to the headwaters of the water of fleet. This river used to support a healthy fish population but it has been heavily impacted by the extensive planting across the headwater catchment of Sitka spruce forest in the 1950’s which caused acidification and over-shaded the river. As a result fish have been lost from over 28km of the upper river and burns. The project will remove bankside conifers, plant native deciduous trees, remove debris dams, loosen compacted spawning beds and undertake liming to neutralise the acidity.