LIFE R4ever Kent Project (LIFE20 NAT/UK/001001013) - River Kent SSSI Condition Monitoring - White-clawed Crayfish

Description

The LIFE R4ever Kent project (2021 -2026) aims restore and revitalise the River Kent Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in South Cumbria and its wider catchment, so it is more resilient to environmental pressures. This unique river, located on the fringes of the English Lake District is home to internationally important populations of bullhead, white-clawed crayfish, freshwater pearl mussel and water crowfoot (Ranunculus) habitat. A contractor is required to carry out a Common Standards Monitoring (CSM) compliant assessment for White-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes, to be used by Natural England to undertake a Whole Feature Assessment of this monitored feature as well as a SSSI Unit condition assessment for the relevant units. This is a deliverable required for the LIFE funded project. Whilst previous survey work for the white-clawed crayfish has been undertaken within the River Kent catchment there has never been a co-ordinated, catchment-wide, CSM-compliant survey to inform a SSSI condition assessment of this feature.