I am delighted to commend to you, the latest 2025/26 Bristol Avon Rivers Trust’s Impact Report, which highlights a year of strong delivery and growing impact across our catchment.
The progress set out here demonstrates the value of BART’s integrated approach, bringing together practical restoration, robust evidence and meaningful community engagement. From improving river habitats and biodiversity to scaling nature-based solutions for climate resilience, the Trust continues to turn strategy into measurable outcomes.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our staff, volunteers, partners and funders for their commitment and support. This collective effort is enabling BART to play an increasingly important role in restoring healthy, resilient rivers for the benefit of both nature and people.
Julian Greaves
Chair, Bristol Avon Rivers Trust
2025-2026 has been a year of strong delivery and increasing impact for Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART).
The Trust has continued to scale our work across the catchment, delivering measurable improvements to river habitat, strengthening the evidence base for action, and engaging communities at an unprecedented level. Our approach combines practical delivery, data-led decision-making, and partnership working to achieve outcomes that are both locally meaningful and strategically significant.
This year, we have also strengthened our role as a regional leader in citizen science and catchment monitoring. Through initiatives such as RiverHub, we are improving how environmental data is collected, shared, and used, supporting better targeting of investment and working with stakeholders to address issues.
Importantly, we are seeing increasing alignment between our work and that of key partners, enabling more coordinated action at catchment scale. This positions us well to respond to future challenges, including climate change, nutrient pollution, and growing development pressures.
While challenges remain, the progress outlined in this report demonstrates that targeted, collaborative investment can deliver tangible environmental and social returns.
Simon Hunter
Chief Executive Officer
1. Climate Resilience
We are delivering nature-based solutions at scale to address flood risk, water scarcity, and climate resilience.
Working with 18 landowners, interventions such as wetlands, improved soil management, and flow attenuation features are reducing runoff, improving water retention, and delivering co-benefits for biodiversity and carbon storage.
Foxley Wetlands demonstrates how multi-benefit interventions can deliver flood storage, carbon sequestration, and habitat creation within a single scheme.
Through Upstream Thinking, we are addressing pollution and hydrological pressures at source, providing a cost-effective alternative to downstream mitigation.
2. Biodiversity Recovery
Our restoration work is improving ecological condition and reconnecting fragmented habitats.
We have enhanced over 13 km of river and 22 hectares of habitat, alongside improving four barriers to support fish passage and species recovery.
Projects such as the Malago restoration and Resilient Frome programme are delivering measurable improvements in habitat diversity and ecological function.
Targeted interventions on the Cam and Wellow Brooks are supporting eel recovery, contributing to national biodiversity priorities.
3. Community Engagement and Behaviour Change
Community engagement remains central to our delivery model, enabling both direct environmental outcomes and long-term behaviour change.
Our programmes mobilised over 7,800 volunteer hours and delivered 2,820 monitoring visits, significantly expanding the catchment’s evidence base.
We are also investing in innovative engagement approaches:
- Bristol’s Hidden River film reached over 300 attendees at a sold-out premiere, demonstrating the value of storytelling in engaging new audiences
- Keep Our Streams Clean is driving behaviour change around pollution
- Only Rain Down the Drain uses targeted communications to reduce urban runoff impacts
- Eels in the Classroom is building long-term environmental awareness among young people
These approaches are helping to shift public understanding and support for river restoration.
4. Evidence, Monitoring and Partnerships
A strong evidence base underpins all of our work.
We have monitored 97 sites across the catchment, supported by a growing citizen science network. This is enabling early identification of issues and more targeted intervention.
- Riverfly monitoring is providing real-time indicators of river health and has already supported pollution investigations
- Detailed ecological monitoring is identifying pressures impacting ecology, and priority areas for investment and intervention
Through 18 collaborative projects and 19 businesses taking action, we are aligning delivery across sectors, raising awareness and leveraging additional resources.
RiverHub is further strengthening this approach by improving data integration, accessibility, and transparency as well as informing where action is required on the ground.
Key priorities for the coming year include:
- Scaling nature-based solutions across priority areas
- Expanding monitoring to address key data gaps
- Strengthening partnerships to increase delivery capacity and project pipelines
- Continuing to embed community engagement within all programmes
This year demonstrates the effectiveness of BART’s integrated approach, combining delivery, data, and engagement to achieve measurable outcomes.
Continued investment will enable us to scale this model further, delivering long-term improvements in river health, climate resilience, and community wellbeing across the Bristol Avon catchment.
To all our wonderful supporters and volunteers, Thank you to each and every one of you. Whether you’ve helped us monitor water quality, supported our outreach work, or simply spread the word about our mission – your dedication and generosity have been truly inspiring. Because of you, we’ve been able to restore habitats, protect wildlife, reduce pollution, and connect more people with the vital importance of healthy rivers.
Every action you take – big or small – helps us build a better future for our waterways and the communities that depend on them.
Rivers are at the heart of our landscape and our lives. They provide the water we depend on, support wildlife, and offer spaces for recreation, connection and wellbeing. Whether you enjoy walking along a riverbank, volunteering outdoors, or simply value the natural environment, there are many ways to get involved and support our work.
At Bristol Avon Rivers Trust, everything we achieve is made possible through the support of our community, partners and funders. There are several ways you can help us continue restoring and protecting our rivers:
- Stay informed
Sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest updates on our work, campaigns, and river health insights. https://bristolavonriverstrust.org/newsletters/ - Make a donation
Unrestricted funding allows us to respond quickly to emerging issues and deliver work where it is needed most. https://bristolavonriverstrust.org/donations/ - Fundraise for us
By raising funds, you directly support practical action on the ground, helping to restore habitats and improve river health across the catchment. https://www.justgiving.com/charity/bristolavonriverstrust - Become a citizen science volunteer
Our volunteers play a vital role in monitoring river health. It’s a rewarding way to spend time outdoors while contributing to meaningful environmental change. https://bristolavonriverstrust.org/get-involved/volunteering/
Thank you for being part of this journey and helping us bring rivers back to life.
For more information, visit:
www.bristolavonriverstrust.org
