Floating ecosystems create new homes for wildlife

We’re installing large stretches of floating ecosystems along our canals and rivers to help halt and reverse the UK’s biodiversity crisis.

Volunteers lowering a floating reed bed into the canal

Installing floating reed beds in Nottingham city centre.

Installing new homes

In the UK, 90% of wetland habitats have been lost in the last 100 years.

This dramatic demise across such a short space of time is largely due to the extreme drainage that's needed to provide land for housing and construction. Throw in unsustainable farming methods and regular flailing of green spaces, and the problem intensifies.

Running through Nottingham city centre, our floating reed bed offers a vast stretch of lush waterside greenery and provides much-needed habitat for a variety of land and water-based species.

Floating reed bed along the Nottingham & Beeston Canal.

Attracting the right crowds

On the Nottingham & Beeston canal, staff and volunteers have installed almost 100 square metres of floating reed beds, which is roughly the size of a badminton court.

This wildlife corridor serves as a waterfront B&B for invertebrates and nesting birds. Also drawn to this new eco development are waterfowl, such as ducks, as well as bees, and other pollinators, which play a key part in the balance of our biodiversity.

Dragonflies and damselflies start their lives amid the foliage, while below the water, newts, fish and other aquatic species find food and shelter in the roots.

Male emperor dragonfly

Keeping new homes safe and clean

This reed bed, along with the other floating ecosystems we are adding to our network, are special Biomatrix designs. This helps to keep the water in our canals healthy.

The 'micro-wilderness' of roots below the surface is the perfect habitat for millions of microorganisms, which help purify the water by eating algae, absorbing carbon and digesting excess nutrients.

Made from recycled, non-toxic materials, multiple layers and flexible areas form a 3D planting space to support a greater plant biodiversity. This allows our ecologists to select the best foliage for the species they have documented in the area and improve population numbers most effectively.

During construction, our teams also install special goose-proof fencing to protect reed dwellers from strong, hungry beaks.

Adding plants to the floating ecosystem.

The need is now

With the continual expansion of housing estates and roads across the UK, habitats are in short and sparse supply. The sounds of wildlife are being replaced with the noise of machinery at an alarming rate. Where vibrant shades of green used to be in abundance, there is now grey concrete and cement.

Our 2,000 miles of canals and rivers act as nature's superhighway for the many species that depend on both land and water.

By installing these floating ecosystems, we can help bring nature back to our towns and cities and encourage biodiversity to thrive again.

Read the film transcript
We're on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal today in Gloucester Docks, installing some floating reed islands. The reed islands make a massive difference to biodiversity, bringing lots of different species into the urban area of the Gloucester Docks. So, when the roots start to grow through the islands into the water, the fish will have like a mini jungle where they'll be able to hide amongst roots and be safe away from predators.
This will also make a really big difference for people coming to visit the Gloucester Docks because they'll be able to see this natural bright colours of the flowers the yellows and the purples through the summer and listen to the sound of the water, which we know is so good for mental well-being.
We've been planting up some floating reed beds. We've been putting the plants into the coir matting and then helping them drop them into the water. It's going to look good. Obviously the plants are still quite small at the moment, it's start of the growing season by the end of the summer all the plants are going to hopefully provide a bit of colour. It's going to have a really good impact.
We've had lots of people stop and ask what we've been doing today. It'd be good to come back and see how they grow over the next few months. The volunteers have done a fantastic job today and we know that we're having a real impact for habitats and species. I'm sure many people have heard that we are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis which means that we're losing habitats and species at a shocking rate but by being able to bring some of this nature into the city, we can give those species a safe way of moving across the landscape providing them with more places that they can live.

Kingfisher in flight with small fish in its beak

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Last Edited: 29 July 2024