by The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and Water Vole Conservation.

The Isle of Wight is now the only county in England where the water vole can be studied in its natural situation without feral mink. The Wildlife Trust, with generous funding from Environment Agency and help from local landowners, has undertaken three surveys in 1996, 2003 and most recently in 2008, to discover more about this charismatic mammal.

The same 51 stretches of Island rivers and waterways are surveyed in the summer. Between 2003 and 2008 water voles continued to be active in 34 sites with a further 10 sites increasing in activity and 7 decreasing.

Water voles continue to be happy in our main rivers and increasing in places such as Nettlestone. However since 2003 they have not been seen around the Newtown area.

The Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal to help save the water vole from future declines. Any contribution would be welcomed to further this work. Please contact Richard Grogan at the Wildlife Trust on (01983) 533180 or richardg@hwt.org.uk for more information.