London Water Vole Recovery (360G-GLA-GROUP0092-2023-02-01)

This Programme has been Match-Funded by Amazon. Led by Zoological Society of London, this project will build a partnership to complete the essential first steps toward recovering water vole and managing mink in London. The aim is to benefit all river corridor SINCs in London and build a strategic regional approach to support wider rewilding objectives. The partnership project will complete a water vole in London status report. This project will include an assessment of baseline water vole data, a communications campaign requesting sightings of water vole and mink, bringing all current London populations into the National Water Vole Monitoring Programme, and training in water vole survey methods. Once widespread, the water vole (Arvicola amphibius) is now the UK’s fastest declining mammal. In London, remnant populations still exist but we do not have a clear idea where they are and if they are being monitored. One of the principal causes of the disappearance of water vole is the introduced highly damaging invasive American Mink (Neovison vison) so the project will also plan how we can work collaboratively to remove mink.