Land Projects

Restoring and re-connecting precious wildlife habitat along the River Yealm

 Land-based activities within the Yealm Estuary to Moor Project (YEM) are working towards restoring and re-connecting wildlife habitat in the River Yealm catchment. Our aims are to identify the opportunities to improve and restore both the river and the land alongside it by working in partnership with expert professional organisations in relevant fields alongside community volunteers from these organisations and the six parishes in the catchment.

  1. Plymouth University MSc Feasibility Study - In order to establish the extent of the problems and identify the opportunities to improve and restore wildlife habitat, YEM has been assisted by Plymouth University by way of a feasibility study by MSc student, Priya Payment. The study report provides a spatial analysis targeted at the riparian corridor, which identified twelve sites for potential restoration work to occur. 
  2. Farming Wildlife Advisory Group South West (FWAG SW) - Towards creating a continuous biodiversity corridor or ‘buffer zone’ along the river and woodland creation, YEM is working in partnership with the charity FWAG SW. For over 50 years, FWAG SW provide independent advice and delivering real change on farmland by working with land managers and landowners across the region. Combining an understanding of farming systems, land management and farm businesses with habitat creation, habitat management and species conservation, FWAG SW is able to effect positive environmental change in the wider landscape. 

        FWAG SW / YEM activities include: 




  1. Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) – Established fifty years ago, DWT is a charity dedicated to protecting wildlife in Devon and safeguarding Devon’s unique natural environment. YEM is working in partnership DWT to restore woodland, hedgerows and wildflower meadows throughout the catchment, in a similar way to the hugely successful ten-year programme that Lynne Kenderdine of DWT has carried out in the neighbouring River Avon catchment. 
  2. Schools Micro-Tree Nursery Activity with Saving Devon’s Treescapes (DWT) – YEM is also working with DWT’s Saving Devon’s Treescapes Community Engagement Officer in providing the ‘Forest Schools’ of the six primary schools in the river catchment with micro-tree nurseries. These are supported by presentations on seed collection and tree growing by the Community Engagement Officer and YEM Schools Lead. 
  3. New Woodland Creation Activities – YEM is working in partnership with the Yealmpton Environment Group, DWT’s Saving Devon’s Treescapes programme and FWAG SW on new woodland creation projects on two large sites that have been generously offered by landowners in the Yealmpton area. 
  4. National Trust / National Trust and Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) – YEM is liaising with the National Trust and FiPL on habitat restoration activities on farmland at the mouth of the River Yealm.