A Welsh Government funding stream managed by Natural Resources Wales and used by Welsh rivers trusts to support the restoration of fish populations in Wales...
The Strategic Allocation Fund (SAF) is a Welsh Government fund managed by Natural Resources Wales for biodiversity, peatland, inland fisheries & water quality, woodlands and metal mine remediation.
Purpose for rivers
Since 2020/21, rivers trusts in Wales have used the fund to deliver strategic fisheries and river restoration projects to deliver:
- Restore salmon (and sewin) habitat.
- Remove barriers to fish migration (for example, obsolete weirs and culverts).
- Improve river habitat through tree planting, bank stabilisation, and gravel restoration.
Afonydd Cymru has received funding to support overall Wales management of river trust data, including reporting to Welsh Government.
We have been working with Natural Resources Wales on restoration prioritisation for fisheries and we are currently developing opportunity mapping to support salmon habitat restoration by tree planting to cool river water temperature.