Our Latest News Update

A recentYDRT team day out at Nosterfield Reserve, Lower Ure Conservation Trust

In this issue:

A Big Thank You to everyone who supported our Big Give!

Our Rivers4Life project opens at the Dales Countryside Museum

A collaboration with Mountain Goat for our corporate volunteers

Yorkshire Dales Biodiversity Forum

Get ready for INNS season!

Farmers and landowners!

A BIG thank you for supporting Big Give!

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who supported - either through donating or sharing posts - our recent Earth Raise Big Give match funded campaign. It enabled us to raise an incredible £5000 for our volunteer programme.

We look forward to keeping you updated with what our amazing individual and corporate volunteers get up to through our social media pages and future e newsletters.

To find out more about volunteering, click on the button below:

Photo: Emmerdale cast and crew on a corporate volunteering day.

Rivers4Life opens at Dales Countryside Museum

We are delighted to announce that following 18 months of community engagement, our Rivers4Life exhibition will open at the Dales Countryside Museum (DCM) in Hawes on Saturday 6 June, running to 27 September 2026.

Supported  by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Rivers4Life project led by our Education and Engagement Officer Catherine Mason, has reached out to a wide range of participants, from schoolchildren to care home residents and refugee groups, inviting them to connect with the rivers of the Yorkshire Dales in imaginative and meaningful ways.

The exhibition will include all artworks and films created by participants, information about our different projects, along with the winning submissions from our four seasons photography competition.

There will also be a specially commissioned community theatre production of Tributaries celebrating the River Ure on 27 and 28 June at the DCM and 4 July at the Ripon Workhouse Museum. Full details via the button below:

Poster: featuring a small selection of the featured artworks and photography competition winners.

Mountain Goat ‘collab’ for corporate volunteers

We can now offer transport for our corporate volunteers as part of our new collaboration with Mountain Goat Private Hire Minibuses . The new package can include transport directly from your business, experienced local drivers who can share insights about the Yorkshire Dales, and the option to add a stop at a pub or other Yorkshire Dales business along the way. It’s the ideal way to support the local economy whilst enhancing your day out!

Head over to our corporate volunteering page to find out more:

Yorkshire Dales Biodiversity Forum

We are one of several key organisations now actively involved in the ‘reset’ Yorkshire Dales Biodiversity Forum delivery group, with Dr Jane Smart, a conservationist with international experience, as its new independent chair. Our CEO, Dr Marie Taylor in addition to representing YDRT also acts for the other local Rivers Trusts in the Yorkshire Dales.

At its inaugural meeting in March, discussions focused on accelerating the delivery of existing plans to restore and enhance natural habitats, with an agreement that success is dependent on joint working between farmers, land managers, government, and other organisations - backed by investment to fund initial action and long-term management.

A major goal set out in the National Park Management Plan is to bring an additional 10,000 hectares of priority habitat into favourable management by 2030 , outside of existing Sites of Special Scientific Interest, through agri-environment or similar funding schemes. Dr Smart said "We’ve got the targets in the nature recovery plans. These plans are better than they ever have been. Now we really need to get on and deliver them."

Photo: The new Yorkshire Dales Biodiversity Forum delivery group with YDRT’s Dr Marie Taylor (far right) and Chair Dr Jane Smart (centre).

Farmers and landowners!

Across our catchments, we work with farmers and landowners to help improve water quality and support long-term farm resilience.

Through our YAARN (Yorkshire Agricultural Advice River Network) project we are currently supporting farms in areas of the Nidd and Wharfe catchments with free confidential advice that can lead to funded improvements to reduce agricultural run-off. This could include:

• Fencing and infrastructure

• Natural flood management

• Yard improvement and water management

• Practical actions that protect both your land and local watercourses

Email our Farming and Conservation Officer, Heather Challis via the button below to find out more:

Photo: Riverside tree planting and fencing