North Wales Rivers Trust has been working alongside local farming families to repair traditional field boundaries and keep livestock away from sensitive riverbanks.

Josh has joined the team to strengthen connections with local angling clubs and support efforts to protect North Wales’ iconic salmon and sea trout. With over a decade of fishing experience and a deep passion for migratory fish, he brings valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities facing our rivers.

This month we’ve been carrying out peatland restoration work within the Gwyrfai catchment.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ruled that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) must release records of pesticide use by farmers in Wales.

This autumn, the North Wales Rivers Trust team had the pleasure of working with Annedd Ni Day Service in Bangor to deliver a seasonal creative workshop celebrating the Torgoch — Wales’s rare Arctic charr.

Our dedicated volunteers have been busy collecting invertebrate samples from our four River Hub locations — the tributaries flowing into Llyn Padarn, tributaries into Llyn Maelog, the Afon Ogwen, and the Afon Braint.

We are seeking a dynamic individual to lead our engagement and outreach work across the Menai Strait catchment, developing strong relationships with communities, partners, and stakeholders to support our conservation goals for the Strait and its connected rivers. The role also involves coordinating and delivering our water quality testing and citizen science programmes, helping local people take an active role in understanding and improving their waterways.

Across the world, communities are beginning to ask a powerful question: what if nature had rights, just like people or companies do? The Rights of Nature movement is about recognising that rivers, forests and ecosystems have their own right to exist, to thrive, and to be free from harm — not just because they’re useful to us, but because they have intrinsic value as living systems.

We’ve installed flexi-baffles inside a 10 m culvert in the upper Dysynni catchment, downstream of key spawning reaches. This pilot is testing a simple way to help fish through short, man-made obstacles.

This year we have been trialing a stake-and-willow revetment on an eroding outside bend in the Clwyd catchment at Henllan, working with Kehoe Countryside. On this spate-influenced, gravel/cobble reach, the aim is to stabilise the bank, cut fine-sediment inputs and provide cover and low-velocity margins for juvenile fish.

A new report, Rivers at Risk, has been published this week by Campaign for National Parks and The Rivers Trust, examining the state of rivers across all 13 National Parks in England and Wales. The findings are clear: while rivers in National Parks are generally in better condition than those outside, they are still under serious threat.

When we see a drinks can, crisp packet, or plastic bottle floating in a river, it’s easy to think of it as just an eyesore. But litter is far more than untidy – it has serious, long-lasting impacts on river health, wildlife, and even people.

Twice a year, The Rivers Trust run a Big River Watch, and the next one will take place from the 19th to 25th September! Anyone can take part in these week-long citizen science surveys that help to build an important picture of river health across the UK and Ireland.

In August we carried out a river walkover survey on the Afon Gwna, a short river on Ynys Môn. The river rises near Llangefni and flows into Llyn Coron. From there, its waters continue as the Afon Ffraw, winding through the extensive dune system before reaching the sea at Traeth Mawr.

Last week we held two eco-cultural mapping sessions as part of our work on the Afon Cegin. These sessions were designed to bring together local knowledge, creativity, and science to better understand this fascinating catchment and shape ideas for its future.

Continuing our work on the Afon Eden as part of the Sustainable Fisheries Mitigation project, delivered in partnership with Natural Resources Wales (NRW). This project builds on our long-term commitment to improving habitat for fish and freshwater pearl mussels — one of the UK’s rarest and most endangered species.

This month we will be trialing new flexi-baffles on a culvert in the Dysynni catchment. Thanks to support from South East Wales Rivers Trust, we’ve been supplied with flexi-baffles—special structures made from recycled plastic that have been designed to help fish migrate upstream more easily.

Himalayan balsam has become a persistent problem in North Wales for decades, particularly along rivers, because it thrives in damp soils and spreads quickly through watercourses. Each plant can produce between 500 and 700 seeds, which are explosively released and can be carried downstream, helping the species colonise new areas with ease.

This month we’ve been back out at Llyn Penrhyn on Ynys Mon to carry out some remedial works on our Floating Wetland project with Biomatrix. Although the original planting had established well in places, some of the vegetation has struggled due to exposure to the wind across the lake. To give the plants the best chance of success, we have added new sections of pre-planted matting and carefully relocated the wetland to a more sheltered spot on the water.

We’ve been busy running creative community workshops as part of Prosiect Torgoch, helping people discover more about the rare Arctic charr (Torgoch) that call North Wales home.