Over 40,000 native trees to be planted to improve Devon’s natural water quality

More than 40,000 native trees are being planted for farms and landowners to help reduce land run-off and improve natural water quality as part of South West Water’s pioneering catchment management programme, Upstream Thinking.

The trees, which were provided by the Woodland Trust, will be delivered and planted by Upstream Thinking partners Devon Wildlife Trust, and will see a range of native tree species like blackthorn, hazel and oak delivered to farms across Devon.

The native trees will encourage water to soak into the ground and help to stabilise the soil, reducing the risk of run-off from land into watercourses and thereby improving water quality. The trees will also help to capture carbon and increase biodiversity on the land.

Carolyn Cadman, Director of Natural Resources at South West Water, said: “Without intervention, run-off from land can end up in our rivers and reservoirs, harming important habitats and impacting water quality for customers. Bad water quality means that we need to use more intensive and expensive treatment before we can supply it to customers.

“Upstream Thinking is a unique industry-leading approach through which South West Water is working in partnership to tackle the issue of land run-off head on, delivering multiple benefits for the landscape, wildlife, ecology and raw water quality. We are proud to be leading on this important work.”

The latest intake of trees will be delivered to around 60 farms across eight river catchments, taking the number of trees planted across the region by the Upstream Thinking programme to 260,000.