Our work

Working in partnership with the Environment Agency, Devon County Council's Flood and Coastal Risk Team, East Devon AONB Partnership, Westcountry Rivers Trust and FWAG South West, a two-year project is underway to tackle flooding and water quality in these two sub-catchments.

Through the East Devon Catchment Partnership, Blackdown Hills AONB secured £20,000 to provide nature-based solutions across the upper catchment of the River Culm to address water quality issues identified in the Water Framework Directive.

The Catchment Communities Conference, on Friday 19 October 2018, brought together community representatives, land owners and managers, and practitioners from the East Devon Catchment Partnership with a view to working together for the future health of the river catchments of the Axe (including Yarty), Otter, Culm and Clyst.

The aim of the Woods for Water project is to stimulate woodland planting and management in appropriate locations to combat flooding and improve water quality.

Connecting the Culm is a three year project which aims to make the River Culm and its floodplain more resilient to flood and drought, improve water quality, support biodiversity and habitat, and involve local people and organisations in the process.

This project, funded by Historic England, shines a spotlight on the important field boundaries and linear landscape features of the Blackdown Hills AONB and highlights the important role they play in the landscape, their heritage value and the benefits that they provide to people.

Following a successful partnership bid to Natural England, a new training and collaboration network has been set up for farmers and other land managers within the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). This is known as the Blackdown Hills Farming and Woodland Group.

For centuries, the sounds, sweat and smoke of iron-working were part of life in the Blackdown Hills. The rich iron-working past of The Blackdown Hills was rooted in this area’s geology and, in turn, the iron-working industry has left its mark on the landscape. The aim of the Metal Makers project was to bring to life and increase understanding of the ancient iron-working heritage of the Blackdown Hills.

The white-clawed crayfish – the UK's only native crayfish – is under threat. The River Culm, in the Blackdown Hills AONB, is one of only two sites in Devon where the endangered, white-clawed crayfish remains. In January 2018, we embarked on the Culm Community Crayfish project with a view to helping communities around the River Culm learn about, survey and look after this endangered species.

The Nature and Wellbeing project has been helping members of the local community make the most of Somerset’s Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) by participating in activities that improve their physical and mental wellbeing.