Wild Isles Episode Four – The UK’s fabulous freshwaters

Episode Four of Wild Isles gets its feet wet, by dipping more than just a toe into the watery world of freshwater. Squishy, soggy, fast, stagnant... our wonderful wetlands are a diverse bunch – but they have one thing in common; they are all positively wet.

As co-producers on BBC’s Wild Isles, our teams have been providing a range of world-class scientific and conservation advice. You’ll spot many of our reserves and resident species - which we think is pretty special.

Whether it’s rivers, streams, pond, marshlands, wet meadows or reedbeds. Our freshwater habitats are the lifeblood of our wild isles. But they are dying. Today, no river in England has been given a clean bill of health. And when our wetlands die, the wildlife that depends on them dies too. In fact, 13% of our freshwater and wetland species are at risk of extinction in the UK. 

So, what’s causing the issue? Alongside other threats, chemicals in rivers are pushing our river to the brink. With more extreme droughts and floods predicted because of the climate crisis, the UK’s freshwater habitats will face even more pressure. Without urgent changes to improve the health of our fresh water, this vital ecosystem might collapse just when we need it most. And we’ll lose much of the amazing wildlife that depends on it.

We want generations to come to enjoy the sounds of reedbeds, colours of spring rivers, and joy of muddy walks and pond-dipping. So, let’s bring our freshwater habitats back from the brink and make our wetlands flourish once more.

In this episode, we saw a team of nocturnal rodents with webbed feet and paddle-shaped tails engineering the restoration of our freshwater habitats. The UK’s Eurasian Beavers are back! And they have the power to reshape our wild isles.

So where have they been? Beavers were driven to extinction in the UK, after hundreds of years of being hunted or their meat, fur and a secretion used in perfumes, food and medicine. But beavers are a conservation success story in the making. Today, thanks to reintroduction programmes, better legal protection and the support of local communities, there are around 1,000 Eurasian Beavers in Scotland and around 150 in England.

Their return brings huge teeth and huge benefits. Beavers build complicated dam systems along our rivers, which create flourishing wetlands that are home to invertebrates, birds, amphibians, fish and plants. They help to clean water by trapping pollutants, and they ease the impact of droughts by creating wetlands.

There are now more than 250 beaver territories in the country, with the highest populations returning to the River Tay and River Earn. At Loch Lomond, we’ve reintroduced a hardworking team of furry eco-engineers. By working closely with farmers and others who may be affected by the beaver’s return, we hope to make their reintroduction as smooth as possible.

These hard-working engineers aren’t in the clear yet:

Beavers depend on the health of our freshwater. But expanding developments, a warming climate and pollution - are all threats to their habitats. We’ve lost more than a third of our wetland habitat globally since 1970 and it is disappearing at a rate three times faster than our forests.

Famous for their defiant leaps upstream, you’ll have spotted Atlantic Salmon battling waterfalls in this episode of Wild Isles. But that’s not all they’re battling. For otters, dolphins and dippers, salmon are the perfect fast food. Sadly today, salmon is under threat in the UK.

The lifecycle of Atlantic Salmon is a tale of transformation. In quiet streams, young salmon dart between the pebbles. It takes up to four years for them to leave these waters. Their bodies then start to transform as they head downstream, called by a strong urge to swim to the salt waters of the Atlantic Ocean, to follow uncharted pathways. The adult salmon then performs a second epic migration, swimming thousands of miles to the very place where it hatched. When they do this, they transform yet again, changing their appearance to attract a mate.

But for these fish, life is an upstream battle. The UK is a European stronghold for Atlantic Salmon, but in 2022 only a quarter of our rivers held viable salmon populations – a record low. If we don’t act now to protect our rivers, we risk losing these fish from our wild isles altogether.

So, what’s the issue? Well, this stronghold is under pressure. Manmade barriers now prevent many salmon from making it upstream to spawn. Water pollution from agriculture is choking the rivers they swim through. And even if they make it and lay their eggs, climate change could soon make the waters of their peaceful streams and tributaries too warm for those eggs to survive. In addition, salmon farming can have an adverse impact on our native wild salmon.

But we can help. At RSPB Haweswater, thanks to your support, we’re hard at work. By ‘rewiggling’ stretches of river that have been straightened we can bring our once-meandering river systems back to their former glory and help salmon to successfully spawn.

This episode, we saw just how dangerous the journey of a young toad can be. Who knew the horror that lay at the edge of the water?

The Common Toad migration is one of the biggest mass movements of animals in the UK –as they make their way to their mating ponds. After some truly romantic scenes, strings of eggs are left behind in the pond’s vegetation. Some toadlets are lucky enough to survive their few short months in their birthing bond and venture to ponds-unknown.

But many of our toad and other amphibian species are really struggling – with threats ranging from habitat loss to climate change. So, as we prepare for summer’s predicted droughts, why not treat these young toadlets to some well-earned respite? There’s nothing quite like cosying up a cool damp house at the end of a long day! Make a house for your resident toads and frogs.

Dragonflies and damselflies are common garden visitors – and like many of us, they're sun lovers. With over 50 species found in the UK alone, summer isn’t complete without their colourful appearance.

In Episode Four of Wild Isles, we watched as young dragonflies left the safety of their underwater world and ventured to the warm air above for the very first time. But their arrival doesn’t go unnoticed.

Dragonflies and damselflies are an essential dinner option for many of our most-loved bird species, including the Hobby. In fact, these birds travel thousands of miles to be in the UK at this exact moment, timing their migration to coincide with the emergence of the extraordinary bounty of Britain’s freshwater. Without dragonflies and damselflies, many UK species would go hungry.

So as our wetlands struggle - why not give the wildlife that depends on freshwater a fighting chance? You don’t need lots of space. Even the smallest pond or water feature can be a haven for the wildlife on your doorstep. Just add water.

In this episode, we enter a hidden world, that we often sleep right through. While it’s still and quiet in our houses, a dancing world comes alive in the caves of the Yorkshire Dales. We follow water loving Daubenton's Bats as they swarm in the UK’s incredible cave systems and show-off their hunting skills on the river.

These secretive teams go unnoticed by many of us – but there are a whopping 18 species of bat in the UK. And the UK’s bats are busy doing important jobs in our skies each night…

Today, bats are having a tough time finding food to eat, and many of their natural roosting places are being damaged and destroyed. So why not give UK bats a helping hand? Building a bat box gives them somewhere safe to roost, raise their pups and sleep during the day.