A NEW analysis of data has revealed a 30 per cent decline in the places where water voles live.

The work, led by the Wildlife Trusts, indicates a dramatic decline in the animals’ habitat over the past 10 years.

While the new analysis reveals a slight increase in distribution in recent years thanks to some successful conservation efforts, the trusts say that the full data covering the whole 10 years paints a bleak picture. The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has been committed to targeted conservation work for water voles for the last 15 years., with dedicated projects and wider wetland landscape and river catchment restoration work aimed at reversing the decline of Britain’s largest species of vole.In East Yorkshire this approach can be seen in action, with a new mosaic of wetlands, including wet grassland, fen, ponds and flowing water at the Skerne Wetlands nature reserve near Driffield. Jon Traill, living landscapes manager for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said: “The key to reversing this decline is re-connecting fragmented wetland habitats and restoring existing wetlands, rivers, ponds and ditches.”