How 'rewiggling' a river brought its fish back 環保工作者修復曲流使原生魚類回歸

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How ‘rewiggling’ a river brought its fish back 環保工作者修復曲流使原生魚類回歸

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A river coming back to life.

這條河正重現生機。

Fish are now breeding in this part of Swindale Beck in Cumbria – in habitat that has been missing for 200 years.

魚類現在在英格蘭坎佈裡亞郡斯溫代爾河的這一流域繁衍生息，這一生機勃勃的景象已有200年不見蹤影。

This one kilometre stretch of river was artificially straightened two centuries ago. But conservationists have now set it back on its original meandering course.

這條一公裡長的河流是兩個世紀前被人工改直的。但自然資源保護者們現已將它改回到瞭原本蜿蜒曲折的河道上。

The results of this restoration are really starting to show.

修復工作的成果已經開始顯現。

Lee Schofield, Senior Site Manager, RSPB Haweswater
“In this little bit of river that we can see here, we’ve got a fantastic gravel bar. We’ve got the riffles that we can hear. A little bit further up near one of the meanders, we’ve got a nice deep pool. So as soon as you get the physical conditions back, the whole kind of food chain seems to reassert itself.”

李·斯科菲爾德英國皇傢鳥類保護協會-霍沃斯沃特自然保護區高級經理
“在我們可以看到的這一小段河流中，有一個奇妙的礫石壩。我們能聽到淺灘上的流水聲。在稍遠處一條曲流附近，還有一個深水處。所以，一旦恢復瞭原本的自然條件，整條食物鏈似乎就重新形成瞭。”

The river was straightened by farmers to reduce the risk of their surrounding hay meadows being flooded.

這條河曾被農民們改直，以降低周圍幹草草地被洪水淹沒的風險。

But that had unintended consequences for nature and for the quality of the water in this landscape.

但截彎取直的做法給自然和這裡的水質帶來瞭意想不到的後果。

The slower flowing water is now cleaning itself – depositing sediment on its banks rather than washing it downstream.

流速較慢的水現在有清潔自身水質的作用，將沉積物帶到岸上，而不是直接沖刷到下遊。

The meandering water can now spill out onto its ancient flood plains, so there’s less risk of flooding downstream.

蜿蜒曲折的水流現在可以溢到岸邊古老的洪泛區，因此下遊發生洪水的風險降低瞭。

But is there space for landscapes to be restored like this and for the surrounding farmland to be productive?

但是，在通過這種方式修復景觀的同時，是否能保持周圍農田的生產力？

Annabel Rushton, RSPB Haweswater
“Our whole approach here at Haweswater is about showing that conservation and farming can work closely together and mutually benefit each other. Certainly here in Cumbria, there [are] a lot of farmers that we know that are going to this kind of more nature-friendly, sustainable, regenerative models of farming.”

安娜貝爾·拉什頓英國皇傢鳥類保護協會-霍沃斯沃特
“我們在霍沃斯沃特的整體方法是展現保護工作和農業可以緊密協作、互惠互利。當然，在坎佈裡亞郡，我們知道有很多農民正在采用這種更環保、可持續、可再生的農業模式。”

Do we need more wiggling rivers, then, across the landscape?

那這個景觀是否需要更多蜿蜒曲折的河流？

Lee Schofield, Senior Site Manager, RSPB Haweswater
“Yeah. Nature really does need chaos, it needs randomness, it needs the freedom to be dynamic. And it needs the potential to be able to change over time. Knowing that we can as a species, kind of, put back, you know, we can restore this stuff, is hugely inspiring.”

李·斯科菲爾德英國皇傢鳥類保護協會-霍沃斯沃特自然保護區高級經理
“需要。大自然確實需要混亂和隨性，它還需要自由，才能充滿活力。此外，自然需要有隨著時間的推移而改變的潛力。而現在，我們知道人類有能力恢復這些生態環境，這非常鼓舞人心。”