2025 marks a decade of the National Water Vole Monitoring Programme (NWVMP) – a huge milestone for the UK’s largest citizen science survey dedicated to water voles. Over the past decade, thousands of volunteers have submitted records of water voles from more than 2,200 sites nationwide. To everyone who has taken part: thank you. Whether you’ve been involved from the beginning or joined recently, your support continues to be vital in helping us track how water voles are doing and in guiding their conservation. We hope you’ll continue to take part.
Join the thousands of participants by visiting a nearby stream, river, ditch or canal between 15th April and 15th, every year, and recording any signs of water voles such as burrows, droppings or footprints. You’ll help us build a clearer picture of how this species is doing. No experience is needed, and free survey guidance and online training are available to get you started.
Ten-year trends – what we’ve learnt
Water vole numbers today are still a fraction of what they were in the 1900s, before widespread habitat loss and the spread of invasive, non-native American mink across the UK countryside. Our data show that, sadly, water vole populations are continuing to decline. This is supported by the most recent Wildlife Trust National Water Vole Database Project report (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, 2024). Although there were signs of population stabilisation around 2017, this trend has sadly not continued.
There is, however, cause for hope. In regions like East Anglia, where targeted conservation work has focused on mink eradication in recent years, water voles are finally making significant comebacks. Elsewhere, reintroductions have taken place in areas where water voles were unlikely to return on their own, giving the species a chance to recolonise places they had long disappeared from. At PTES, we’ve spent the last year working with experts to review water vole reintroduction strategies. We’re identifying what works best and preparing guidance to help future projects succeed. This will be published later in 2025.
Survey season highlights
- 214 transects surveyed across 113 sites, with many volunteers surveying multiple transects at their locations. Water vole activity recorded at 104 transects.
- 54 new sites registered in over ten counties.
- Long-term monitoring from historic Vincent Wildlife Trust surveys carried out at 56 sites, allowing comparisons with 30-year-old data.
- 8 newly registered sites with active mink control, including Smart mink rafts.
Mink monitoring
American mink remain a major threat to water voles. However, we now have at least 20 NWVMP sites equipped with active Smart mink rafts installed along their 500m transects. These rafts allow for the humane trapping of mink and their removal from a site. In some areas, collaborative efforts between landowners have enabled mink eradication across entire river catchments. The Waterlife Recovery Trust has now successfully eradicated non-native invasive mink from 6,000km² of waterways across East Anglia. This new safe zone is allowing our native wildlife to thrive and gives us a glimpse of what a mink-free Britain could look like. PTES supported these efforts by funding the deployment of 60 Smart mink rafts in London. These traps are remotely monitored and alert staff when triggered by an animal. PTES’ Water Vole Officer Emily Luck is working with volunteers to establish water vole monitoring sites in numerous locations around London and the southeast as the project expands, enabling us to track how quickly and effectively these eradication efforts are.
Otter sightings
Otter activity was recorded at 14 NWVMP sites in 2024, with camera traps capturing these elusive mammals at several locations. Some otter records are kept confidential at the request of landowners and local record centres to protect sensitive habitats.
While some local efforts are starting to yield positive results, we must be clear: documenting and accepting continued declines generally is neither a conservation success nor helpful to the long-term recovery of water voles. To truly bring water voles back from the brink, we must raise our ambitions. That means improving habitat connectivity, delivering restoration on a large-scale, coordinating mink eradication, and making a long-term commitment to creating landscapes where water voles can thrive, not just survive.