The water vole and its habitat are now fully protected by law. Photo credit: Philip Precey.
A century after the publication of 'The Wind in the Willows', and six years after a change in the law was first recommended, ‘Ratty’ is to receive full protection from the law, under new proposals announced by Defra.
It will be against the law to deliberately kill a water vole or to intentionally, or recklessly, damage or disturb the places they use for shelter or protection.
Threatened by habitat loss and predation by American mink, the water vole is the UK’s fastest declining native mammal. In 1990 there were seven million water voles in the UK.
By 1998 numbers had crashed to less than a million and they have since continued to fall.
Previous legal protection for water voles extended only to the animal’s habitat. This has proved a source of confusion, resulting in the loss of important water vole colonies.
The news was welcomed by The Wildlife Trusts. Tim Mitcham, head of conservation for Lancashire Wildlife Trust, said: “We’re absolutely delighted water voles have finally been thrown this lifeline.
"Water voles have been lost from many parts of the UK, and are increasingly rare in Lancashire, but this excellent news will undoubtedly help our
efforts to bring the water vole back from the brink."
