Natural Course
Home to a diverse range of landscapes and barriers, the North West was chosen to lead the first EU LIFE integrated Project in the UK: Natural Course. The project closed March 2024.
Please note, this project closed March 2024.Â
78% of rivers in North West England are not considered healthy, and many solutions are found to be too expensive to implement.
We worked with the Environment Agency, United Utilities, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Natural England to build capacity to protect and improve our water environment, both for the present and the future.
Natural Course:
- Tested and informed best practice in achieving UK and EU water quality legislation.
- Used the North West River Basin as a flagship project and shared best practice across the UK and Europe.
- Made better use of resources, shared ownership of complex issues, reduced barriers, and maximised outcomes through a collaborative approach involving organisations from the public, private and third sectors.
Natural Course was an EU-funded LIFE Integrated Project that ran for 9 years to improve and protect water quality across the North West.
The project supported and built upon the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) and worked with the following catchment hosts in the North West:
- Groundwork
- Mersey Rivers Trust
- Lune Rivers Trust
- Ribble Rivers Trust
- South Cumbria Rivers Trust
- West Cumbria Rivers Trust
- Wyre Rivers Trust
Working together, these contributors assembled a broad range of data and evidence to guide action across the North West River Basin District.
If you would like more information on the Natural Course project, please visit www.naturalcourse.co.uk
The project ran from December 2015 - March 2024
This project was made possible with the support of EU LIFE Integrated Projects Funding. Project number LIFE14IP/UK/027