Canal network’s ‘ecological footprint’ mapping shows its value for nature

Historic canals provide “vital” corridors of waterways, hedgerows and habitats for wildlife to move through the landscape, the charity which cares for them has said.

The Canal & River Trust, which is responsible for 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales, has mapped the “ecological footprint” of its canal network for the first time to show how it can support the UK’s struggling wildlife.

But the charity also warns the ageing canal network is at risk from the impacts of climate change such as weather extremes, as well as pollution and invasive species, and investment is needed to make them resilient for the future.

Habitats

The assessment shows that, alongside the homes for wildlife provided by the waterways themselves, nearly 6,000 hectares (14,600 acres) of habitats are found along the canals, connecting urban settings with woodlands and forests, lakes, grasslands, and smaller areas of heathland and cropland.

There are 1,421 kilometres (882 miles) of hedges and hedgerows with trees alongside canals, more than half of which are rich in native species.

A report from the charity on the impact England and Wales’ network of canals and rivers has on people, nature and places also highlights that the waterways include 304 conservation areas and 68 protected areas known as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

The Canal & River Trust said the corridors of habitat provided by the waterways provide food and water sources and “nature highways” that allow species to move safely through a fragmented and increasingly pressured landscape.

The centuries-old canals also provide local access to nature and green space for millions of people, with nine million people living within a 10 to 15 minute walk of the network, the charity said.

The impact report highlights work to help nature and communities, including creating the world’s longest community orchard along 50 miles of West Midland canals and creating homes for threatened water voles by adding coir rolls to make soft banks along waterways they can burrow and forage in.

Canals can also provide urban cooling, reducing the temperature in the areas surrounding them in cities by an average of 1C, and in the record heatwaves of 2022 by 2C, research shows.

And they can transport water from wetter areas to drier parts of the country, key for coping with a hotter, drier future as the climate changes, the charity said.

Adapted

Richard Parry, chief executive of Canal & River Trust, said the network had been adapted “almost unconsciously” over the past 250 years from infrastructure built for the movement of goods and trade and as a driver of the industrial revolution to something for nature and local green space.

“It has, sometimes through neglect and sometimes through deliberate repurposing, become this amazing nature network, available for leisure on the doorstep of so many millions of people, very often in some of the most deprived areas, both economically and in terms of health and green space.

“Suddenly we find ourselves gifted this remarkable network that is available for people, and creates this environment for nature, where people can be close to it,” he said.

But the network is facing the increasing pressures of extreme weather, which brought 12 storms during 2023/2024 alone causing £10 million of impacts across the country, while droughts put growing pressure on the canals’ water supplies.

The Canal & River Trust, which was formed as a charity from a state body in 2012, faces shrinking government grants while needing to spend more on making its waterways fit for the future, putting an increasing focus on public support, charitable partnerships and donations.

Mr Parry said the canals could not be taken for granted, and were “not going to go away”.

“Our choice is either invest enough in them to keep them in a good condition, where they can support nature, they can be a benefit to communities, to keep our access to an attractive environment that enhances wellbeing as well as nature.

“Or we can let them deteriorate and they’ll still be there, as far less attractive places that have a negative impact on places they run through and potentially become more of a public safety risk over time,” he warned.

He said it was important to value the canals and invest enough to make them resilient and able to function as part of the solution to the problems facing urban and rural areas in the 21st century.