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Sustainable Catchment Management Programme

Bowness Common
The project will protect stunning and vitally important landscapes and habitats such as blanket bog and heather moorland

Land owned by United Utilities is home to some of the UK’s most amazing wildlife.

The stunning hen harrier, the evocative curlew and the endearing stonechat  - just a few of the birds which make swathes of uplands from the Forest of Bowland to the Peak District so special.

And from these moorlands, water flows in bubbling streams and raging rivers into massive storage reservoirs and, finally, into homes and businesses throughout the north-west.

Until 2010, United Utilities and the RSPB will be working together to deliver the Sustainable Catchment Management Programme (SCaMP), a ground-breaking project that will benefit water and wildlife.

The vision for 2010 is…

  • for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) – some of the region’s most important areas for wildlife and people - to be in prime condition  
  • a halt to the alarming declines of birds such as twites and hen harriers
  • the return of stunning and vitally important landscapes and habitats such as blanket bog and heather moorland
  • improvements to water quality 
  • economically-viable farming helping  maintain and enhance special habitats and wildlife, as well as water quality
  • opportunities to support farming at a time of change and uncertainty.   

Working together

We will work with farmers and land managers, with local authorities and decision makers, with Government and other conservation organisations to influence how water catchment areas are managed and properly funded.

Work will include:

  • restoring blanket bogs by blocking drainage ditches 
  • restoring areas of eroded and exposed peat
  • restoring hay meadows
  • establishing clough woodland 
  • restoring heather moorland
  • providing new farm buildings for indoor wintering of livestock and for  lambing
  • providing new waste management facilities to reduce run-off pollution of water courses
  • fencing to keep livestock away from areas such as rivers and streams and from special habitats.   

Planning for farming and the future

By spring 2006, all farms entering the project will have innovative long-term plans to support the implementation of the SCaMP ideals. The plans will be drawn up by RSPB and United Utilities staff, supported by officers from Lancashire Rural Futures and the Peak District National Park Authority.

Farmers involved in SCaMP will be helped to become champions of land management and will be better-placed to benefit from changes to financial agricultural support; they will be able to take advantage of opportunities to diversify into other exciting businesses; and at the same time will be helping some of our best-loved and charismatic wildlife.

From hilltop to tap - working together for water and wildlife

Putting SCaMP into action has only been possible thanks to generous funding from Ofwat, the economic regulator for the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales.

This funding will enable staff from United Utilities and the RSPB to work closely together with individuals and organisations through the north-west to enhance habitats, benefit wildlife and improve water quality.

Last modified: 28 April 2005