An environmental charity in Cumbria are celebrating a successful year of protecting rivers in the area.

West Cumbria River's Trust planted more than 10,000 trees and created enough wetland to cover 28 football pitches in one year. This has helped to reduce flood risk and improve our rivers.

Jodie Mills, Operations Director at West Cumbria Rivers Trust, said: "The health of our rivers and lakes is important to us all. I’m so proud of what West Cumbria Rivers Trust achieved in 2021 but there is still more all of us can do.”

"We’re really excited about 2022 and we’ll keep working to improve our rivers and lakes for both people and wildlife. We’ve got fantastic improvement projects underway across whole river catchments, we’re working to conserve endangered and threatened species such as the freshwater mussel and Atlantic salmon.

"We’ve also got a pipeline of fantastic new projects we can’t wait to get started on."

During 2021 the charity delivered a series of Natural Flood Management projects helping to protect west Cumbrian communities like Keswick and Cockermouth amongst others.

This included installing 482 leaky dams and woody debris features in becks to help slow water flow during storms and reduce peak flood levels downstream, as well as improving wildlife habitats and water quality.

The Trust is working with Lancaster University to monitor the effectiveness of the new measures, which are helping to reduce the risk of flooding to homes and businesses.

The group work to tackle invasive plants and animal species which threaten native species. In 2021 the team controlled invasive plants such as Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed over an area of 19 hectares and removed 426 invasive crayfish.

Jodie also praised the passion and commitment of the 157 farmers and landowners and 76 farms who worked with the Trust during the year.

Communities, local businesses and partner organisations who helped to deliver the projects have also been praised.

Ms Mills added: "Their support has been amazing, and we also must thank our 300 wonderful volunteers giving us 2,730 hours of their time.

"But there is still a lot of work to do, so If you would like to help us then please see our website www.westcumbriariverstrust.org for how you can get involved."