With the help of supporters like you, new wetland habitats along the Montgomery Canal in Wales are helping rare aquatic plants to thrive and flourish, as part of our ambitious restoration partnership.
When the Montgomery Canal (known locally as ‘the Monty’) fell into sharp decline after the war, this rural and beautiful canal soon went back to nature, becoming overgrown, clogged with silt, and virtually impassable. Despite restoration efforts beginning as early as the 1960s, years of neglect had unexpected consequences.
Left to their own devices, a plethora of aquatic plants, like floating water-plantain began to flourish. Seldom found elsewhere this unique array of plant life, led to the Monty being recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
This means we must now do all it can to protect rare plants like these. Which is why, with the help of our Friends, supporters and volunteers the newly created wetland habitat will give these scarce and delicate plants a fighting chance.
The site includes wetlands connected to the canal, which will give the floating water-plantain the space it needs to survive and thrive, away from more competitive and aggressive plants that might crowd it out on the canal itself. It’s hoped other species will grow here too, such as Potamogeton, a rare pondweed known to benefit surrounding wildlife. The wetlands will also provide valuable habitat for wildflowers, pollinators and birds.
Richard Harrison, principal project manager at Glandŵr Cymru (the Canal & River Trust in Wales) says, “It’s an important milestone, this new area of wetland habitat will boost the local aquatic life, helping to ensure the wildlife that the canal supports will be here for generations to come.”
Opened by Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr MP Steve Witherden in December, the new wetlands are the latest step forward in a hugely ambitious restoration partnership to restore the Monty to navigation – a labour of love, more than half a century in the making.
Led by the Canal & River Trust as owners of the canal, the partnership is inching ever closer to our goal, by bringing together support from county councils in Shropshire and Powys, canal and nature restoration groups, central government funding and donations from all our Friends. Volunteers are also playing their part, by giving their time, energy, and skills to restore a very special waterway.
The latest phase, between Llanymynech and Arddleen, includes major dredging works and the construction of a new road bridge at Carreghofa Lane. Once complete, it will open up a previously unnavigable part of the canal for the first time since the 1930s.
Longer term, the aim is to connect this part of the Monty to previously restored sections around Welshpool, boosting the local economy and encouraging thousands more visitors to explore what is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque waterways on our network.
It’s an important reminder of how your long-term support, year after year, helps us make a real, tangible difference to our canals and the people, communities, and wildlife that rely on them. Without your support, vital conservation projects like the one in Powys would never get off the ground.
It will be some time before the full impact of the newly established wetland habitat, the first of two expected to be installed along the canal, will be felt. But, as with every phase of this immense project, it’s yet another important step towards full restoration – the culmination of a brave endeavour conceived almost 60 years ago.
