Nature And Landscape

Saving Devon's Native Crayfish

The Wildwood Trust will ensure that the two surviving wild populations of native white-clawed crayfish in Devon are saved from extinction. This will be achieved by rescuing crayfish from threatened river populations (Rivers Culm and Creedy Yeo), expanding and improving our existing crayfish hatchery and captive breeding programme, and securing future safe and protected release sites. The project will train and support citizen science volunteers to take an active role in the project’s crayfish conservation objectives, and to ensure crucial monitoring continues beyond the life of the project. Through public engagement and a dedicated school outreach programme, we will raise awareness of the fragility of this protected species and the measures and actions needed to safeguard its future. The project will play a crucial role in species recovery and will pave the way for multiple future reintroductions to safeguard the species survival in Devon.