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Yealm Estuary to Moor
A Community Organisation
A Community Organisation
Yealm Estuary to Moor is a voluntary group that works to enhance the water quality and biodiversity of the River Yealm and its catchment.
YEM is about making change on the ground and it has numerous projects. The work is coordinated by a Steering Group of volunteers from across the catchment. This includes the local parishes of Newton & Noss, Wembury, Brixton, Yealmpton, Sparkwell and Cornwood. Some members are expert advisors, some serve as officers/Project Leads, but all ensure close contact with local environmental groups across the catchment.
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​The success of our work relies upon the support of the community and working with Parish Councils, schools, landowners and businesses throughout the catchment. YEM seeks to help nature and encourage nature-based solutions that help us and our communities.
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About Us
About Us
The River Yealm
Across the Yealm catchment, the habitat that our wildlife relies on to survive has become increasingly fragmented and communities in the catchment are increasingly concerned that the river is in trouble and the catchment is losing its biodiversity. The River Yealm itself is all too frequently polluted by outflows and run-offs resulting from human activity or extreme weather events and there has been a significant decline in the number of fish in the river over the past few decades.
We collaborate widely with experts, professional organisations and local volunteers to restore the quality of our river and wildlife habitats, ultimately creating wildlife corridors across the catchment that will help our wildlife thrive.
YEM encourages everyone, including children and families to explore nature together.
Pursuing Priorities through Partnership
Working in partnership with expert organisations and with inputs from the local community we have developed a River Yealm Catchment Action Plan.
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Our combined assessment guides our work and helps to co-ordinate support for nature-based projects in the catchment. The plan is aimed at improving river water quality and ecology, terrestrial habitat and biodiversity and water and land management by identifying key issues and activities in the catchment and prioritising the key areas for further action.
This is a working document reviewed and managed through the River Yealm Catchment Partnership. Co-chaired by YEM and the Environment Agency. It involves the active input and support of organisations such as the West Country Rivers Trust, Devon Wildlife Trust, Catchment Sensitive Farming, South Devon National Landscapes, Dartmoor National Park, National Trust and South West Water.
Our Objectives
YEM is a not-for-profit community organisation whose aim is to:
Create natural corridors within the catchment of the river Yealm so that both aquatic and terrestrial wildlife may flourish there and have unimpeded passage to migrate.
There are 2 key objectives in achieving this:
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to link fragmented habitats and remove barriers to free passage.
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to restore habitats that have been degraded, whether woodland, wetland, meadow, moorland or river in order to increase their biodiversity, including the health of the river.
