2022-23 Tales from an East Anglian Riverbank - Portfolio - Page 2
FOREWORD
I am delighted to be introducing this end of year review which highlights the fantas}c work delivered through the
Environment Programme in 2022/23. These successes would not have been possible without the hard work and dedica}on of
our colleagues and partners and my thanks go to all of them.
The Spending Review of 2021/22 brought about a signi昀椀cant reduc}on in the Water Environment Improvement Fund. More
than ever, we have had to carefully priori}se projects with the greatest poten}al outcomes and signi昀椀cant match-funding
alongside high con昀椀dence in delivery. However, it was great to see the introduc}on of speci昀椀c funding for our precious chalk
streams. We were able to deliver around 20 projects using this new resource, relieving a li琀琀le pressure on the WEIF budget.
Addi}onally, we were able to take advantage of in-year funding opportuni}es for projects linked to agricultural and chemicals
in the environment, as well as addi}onal Water Resources funding for water stressed catchments and securing Local Levy for
delivering some of our Natural Flood Management projects.
Graham Verrier
Area Director
In line with our eMission2030 plan, the team is working hard to understand, record and mi}gate the impact of carbon within
its programme. Alongside this, we are capturing the value of addi}onal bene昀椀ts that may otherwise ny under the radar. For
25 projects, in the Environment Programme, that delivered on the ground improvements in 2022/23, with a total project
spend of £977,460. The total value of ecosystem service bene昀椀ts delivered by the projects is over £33m.
YEAR AT A GLANCE - outcomes, outputs and ecosystem benefits
28 community groups involved and 600
volunteer days
43 ha of wetland and 8 ha of peatland created or
improved
Water quality / pollu}on - £1.85m
66 partner organisa}ons and 66
community events
9 km of bankside features created or restored
Biodiversity and ecology - £1.37m
21.6 km of river enhanced and
132.5 km of river protected
29 sites where 19 km of in-channel features have
been restored
Carbon sequestra}on - £1.18m
120 ha of priority habitat created or
restored
150 agricultural businesses have been given advice
and/or changed their way of working
Flooding - £400k
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