A WILDLIFE charity in Gloucestershire is giving one shy mammal a fighting chance of survival thanks to a £31,000 grant.

Life has been rough for the water vole over the past seven decades, according to experts at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT).

A combination of riverside habitat loss, attacks by American minks that escaped from fur farms and, more recently, the deaths of countless young as a result of summer flooding, has come close to wiping out the water vole.

Fortunately for the little mammal, GWT is hitting back with a series of works set to help out the water vole, thanks to securing £31,000 from the SITA Trust, through the landfill communities fund for its water voles on the River Coln project.

This funding means that GWT will be able to work in partnership with farmers, landowners and communities to restore, recreate and reconnect habitats on the river for the benefit of wildlife and people.

The project will ensure a stretch of at least 12 kilometres of good quality habitat for water voles and other wildlife between Bibury and Fairford on the River Coln.

As part of the project GWT will be using a traditional method of riverbank management and will be installing hazel faggots to stabilise and improve the structure of riverbanks. The faggots are bundles of hazel branches; leftovers from GWT’s Lower Woods and Siccaridge Wood nature reserves.

"It is a great way to recycle the material we generate from our coppicing work at Siccaridge Wood nature reserve," said Stroud Area nature reserves manager Pete Bradshaw. "It’s great to know that the coppicing work is not only benefiting the dormice in the wood, but water voles on the river Coln. An amazing 350 hazel faggots have been made using wood from our reserves with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers."

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s living landscapes manager Richard Spyvee added: "It’s a crucial time for the future of the water vole, and there are encouraging signs that suggest that all is not lost for this tiny mammal."

"The good news is that water voles are prolific breeders: if we get it right when it comes to the environment, as we have done over the past few years on the River Windrush, then we will see numbers increase quite quickly."