Ribble Rivers Trust wins national wild salmon conservation grant.
Ribble Rivers Trust has been awarded a national conservation grant for a river restoration project aimed at improving wild salmon habitat and reducing flood risk in Lancashire.
The trust received the £10,000 Orri grant from the North Atlantic Salmon Fund UK, which supports initiatives to protect endangered wild Atlantic salmon. The grant is named after the organisation’s founder, Orri Vigfússon.
The project will focus on restoring salmon habitat in the River Hodder, a major tributary of the River Ribble. It is due to begin in late spring 2026 and will involve measures designed to slow water flow and create suitable spawning conditions for salmon.
The Ribble catchment covers a broad area, from the uplands of the Yorkshire Dales to urban centres including Blackburn, Burnley and Preston. The River Hodder rises on White Hill and flows for around 23 miles before joining the River Ribble.
Jack Spees, chief executive of Ribble Rivers Trust, said the project would involve local communities, schools and anglers. He said the trust plans to engage schoolchildren in citizen science surveys, support apprentices in practical river restoration work and work with anglers to monitor salmon spawning following the addition of new gravel.
Spees added that the restoration measures could also help mitigate flood risk, pointing to increased flooding in the area over the past 50 years.
Robert Sloss, chair of North Atlantic Salmon Fund UK, said community-led river projects had a proven track record. He said similar initiatives had delivered relatively quick improvements in the number of salmon redds and in the number of adult fish returning from the sea to spawn.
