River restoration could generate £10bn, report says

Restoring rivers and wetlands could deliver billions of pounds in economic benefits while improving wildlife habitats and helping communities cope with flooding and climate change, a report says.

The Rivers 2040 Vision has been published by the Wildlife Trusts, Trent Rivers Trust and Intact Insurance.

It estimates that investing £43m a year in restoring the River Trent over the next 30 years could generate about £10bn in economic benefits.

The report says the river, which is about 350km long and passes through Staffordshire and six other counties, could be a blueprint for how waterways across England could be restored.

In Stoke-on-Trent, a 450-metre stretch of the river at the former Victoria Ground football stadium was relocated to make way for a housing development. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust restored natural features in the new channel, which has helped create a green corridor through the area with otters, kingfishers and brown trout now found along the river.

Matthew Lawrence, environment programme manager at the Environment Agency in the West Midlands, said the Trent had improved significantly since the 1960s.

"It's not the polluted river it once was," he said. "We've seen a massive improvement in the quality of the river."

Chris Reid, deputy senior vice president at Intact Insurance, said restoration could have positive effects beyond the river itself: "As extreme weather becomes more frequent, we need to think differently about how we protect our communities.

"Restoring rivers, floodplains and wetlands can help manage water, reduce flood risk and make the places where people live and do business more resilient."

David Cadman, head of nature recovery at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, said this was particularly important given recent extreme weather: "With the summer and the winter that we had in 2026 rivers and their role in climate change, dealing with extreme river events has become more and more prominent."

Some say the benefits extend to health and wellbeing. Tracey's Walking Trails are often out along the restored stretch of the River Trent in Stoke. Janet Finney, one of the guides, said: "You've got the walks, the murals, everything that's going on. It's just nice to be able to walk along a river."

Dr Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at the Wildlife Trusts, said the health of rivers was a concern for people across the country.

"The scale of the challenge is huge," he said. "But our new vision for rivers is a call to arms. There is an enormous prize to be won if we get this right."

He said restoration would require communities, businesses and authorities to work together.

"Only then, with national and regional policy recognising that nature is necessary to the health of our waterways, can investment in river recovery truly deliver greater climate resilience, local prosperity and bring wildlife back to our waterways," he added.

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