Always on
This project successfully funded on 18th December 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 18th December 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Improving and restoring rivers, helping to mitigate the expected impacts of climate change and improve water quality within the NDWSR
We (Earth Action North Devon), have teamed up with the North Devon World Surf Reserve, the National Trust, and the Save the Waves Coalition on a new pilot project to fast-track the implementation of interventions to enable natural processes and improve natural habitats which will help:
- Slow the flow of water and cleanse pollutants, improving overall water quality around the North Devon coastline.
- Mitigate the effects of heavy rainfall events, caused by human-driven climate change
- Increase carbon capture through wetland creation
- Improve and restore biodiversity
- Reduce erosion
Climate models predict, with a high degree of certainty, that the South West of the UK will experience increased heavy rainfall in short periods (Met Office 2024). This will increase ‘runoff’ of rainwater into the sea around the North Devon World Surfing Reserve. Runoff occurs when heavy rainfall saturates the land, particularly where there is reduced flora, and flows downhill across the land, increasing the volume and speed of streams and tributaries that feed into the sea.
Runoff is an issue as it carries pollutants, which have limited time to disperse or be filtered by natural processes, from land into waterways. This heavily affects water quality, wildlife, biodiversity and the surrounding community. More runoff = more pollution, and not just the things we can’t see.
Our starting point was the Combesgate tributary, a stream running through National Trust land and into the surf zone at Woolacombe, which is being treated as a live case study to test and refine nature-based techniques. So far, the National Trust team, with support from Save the Waves Coalition Climate mitigation fund, has completed 27 interventions involving the removal and the breaking up of historic land drains and the installation of nature-based measures including leaky dams, baffles and ponds, but that was just to the start and we need your help to support the next stage...
Every pound raised through the Crowdfunder will be match funded by the National Trust, meaning your donation goes twice as far in helping us slow the flow, reduce pollution, and bring our waterways back to life. Here’s what we’re aiming for:
- 7 x Scrapes (shallow ponds that hold rainwater and create wildlife habitats)
£250 fund raising (+£250 match fund by NT)
Total to raise £3,500
- 4 x Baffles (wooden barriers in streams that slow water)
£150 fund raising (+£150 match fund by NT)
Total to raise £1,200
Land Drain Break (breaking an old drain so water filters naturally into the land)
£500 fund raising (+£500 match fund by NT)
Total to raise £1,000
8 x Leaky Dams (dams made of logs and sticks that slow water flow)
£150 fund raising (+£150 match fund by NT)
Total to raise £2,400
TOTAL to raise with NT match funding = £8100
Fundraising and communications support + Crowd funder platform costs = approx £2,000
TOTAL to raise from the community = £6,100
At EAND, we’re leading on communications and community engagement – connecting people to the project and building momentum. That means:
• Telling the story of what’s happening and why it matters
• Recruiting volunteers to help monitor the river
• Helping make the case for funding and action across all five key tributaries in the area
Funding and looking ahead
Thanks to initial seed funding from the Save The Waves climate mitigation fund, match funding from the National Trust enabled by the Species Survival Fund (funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Defra), and a significant donation from Dryrobe, the National Trust team has made a very successful and inspirational start in the Combesgate valley.
However, we hope this is just the beginning. With the support of our community, we can take what works here and apply it to other streams feeding the North Devon World Surf Reserve, supporting ecosystems, surf breaks, and communities all at once.
Our long-term aim is to clean up many tributaries throughout the reserve.
How can you help?
If passionate about clean water, thriving rivers and tackling climate change you can:
- Donate to our crowdfunder to support interventions along priority areas. All donations will be match-funded by the National Trust Species Survival Fund (Defra)
- Join our citizen science network
- Follow the project’s journey
- Share this story and spread positive seeds of hope.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made