Charity's £100k appeal to keep waters wild

Frogs, toads, water voles and wading birds are among the many species struggling as their habitats are threatened

Nature is disappearing at an alarming rate from Warwickshire's rivers, a charity has warned as it launches a £100,000 fundraising appeal.

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust wants help to fund its work to restore the county's rivers and protect the wildlife living in and along the waterways.

The Wilder Waters Appeal will help the trust to to re-wild riverbanks, make homes for wading birds, protect amphibians and create "nature-based" solutions to climate change.

Frogs, toads, water voles and wading birds are among the many species struggling as their habitats are threatened and their environment is polluted, the trust said.

The work will aim to cover 912 miles (1,469km) of rivers and waterways between Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull.

The trust said: "In the last 100 years, the UK has lost 90% of its wetland habitats and more than 10% of our freshwater and wetland wildlife are at risk of extinction.

"On top of this, the UK's Water Frameworks Directive states that every river in our county is struggling with water quality."

The charity recently ran a series of "green conversations" with communities across the county, and it said the state of rivers and waterways came out on top as one of the issues people were most concerned about.

Director of fundraising Lindsay Butler called the rivers Warwickshire's "wild arteries".

She said: "But nature is disappearing from them at an alarming rate.

"This appeal is a chance for everyone who wants to walk along our rivers and canals and be surrounded by nature, to make a real, lasting difference to our waterways across Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull."

The money will also go towards carrying out surveys to monitor the health of the rivers.