Help save Arctic charr from extinction in the Lake District
We are excited to have a Green Match Fund fundraising campaign running, from 22 until 29 April, to raise money to help save the Arctic charr from extinction in the Lake District.
All donations to our campaign during this time will be matched up to our target of £10K. Therefore, if we can secure £10K worth of donations, the Green Match fund will double that to £20K!
A donation of £15 will become £30, £25 becomes £50…
£50 will become £100…
And £10,000 worth of donations will be doubled to an incredible £20,000!
We are hoping you can help us get there.
Will you support our Green Match Fund to help save Arctic charr?
Your donation will be doubled for one week only!
From 22 until 29 April 2025
We have formed a new partnership focussed on identifying the most urgent pressures on Arctic charr in our new Lake District Charr Recovery & Management (LD-CHARM) project. We are hoping that this Green Match Fund campaign will help raise vital research funds to support the LD-CHARM project.
It is our sincere hope that you will be willing to help support our Green Match Fund to help save Arctic charr in the Lake District.
Photo of Arctic charr by Lindsay McCrae
What is Green Match Fund & how can you help?
We’ve already secured significant funding towards this project and we’ve already started work, but we need £20,000 to help us complete all of the genetics and habitat sampling, and also to help us engage with and enthuse local communities with this enigmatic species.
To help us reach our target, we are taking part in the Green Match Fund, a seven-day online match funding campaign to raise money for pressing environmental issues (22 – 29 April). All donations to our campaign during this time will be matched up to our target of £10K.
Therefore, if we can secure £10K worth of donations, the Green Match fund will double that to £20K!
So what’s the problem?
Like the name suggests, the Arctic charr is a cold water salmonid species (like Atlantic salmon and brown trout) which is under pressure in the Lake District due to nutrient enrichment, the effects of climate change, invasive non-native species and spawning habitat degradation.
The population is particularly struggling in Windermere and we want to understand why. One of the major issues is thought to be the condition of the habitat where Arctic charr lay their eggs. Just like salmon or trout, Arctic charr eggs need very clean spawning gravels to survive and we’re not sure whether Arctic charr are still able to use all of their previous spawning ground range, due to habitat degradation.
Louise Lavictoire, Head of Science at FBA, explains why Arctic charr in the Lake Ditrict need our support and the aims of the Lake District Charr Recovery & Management (LD-CHARM) project
What are we doing & why is this going to help?
During the Lake District Charr Recovery & Management (LD-CHARM) project we aim to:
Carry out habitat surveys to assess the extent and condition of spawning grounds in Windermere, so that we can suggest bespoke improvements in a purpose-written conservation plan.
Using environmental DNA (eDNA), we will investigate whether charr are still using all of their historically recorded spawning grounds, and search for as-yet unrecorded spawning grounds in Windermere, and other water bodies in the Lake District.
Study the population genetics of Lake District Arctic charr in different waterbodies to inform future conservation actions.
The robust research findings, using cutting edge science including underwater surveys, hydroacoustics, eDNA and population genetics, will establish a wider understanding of why populations of Arctic charr are struggling, to inform a conservation plan including suggestions for habitat improvements, and specific actions required, to help secure the survival of this totemic fish.
Why are the Lake Distric Arctic charr so special?
The Arctic charr populations of Windermere have been studied since the 1940s, but their cultural significance in the Lake District dates back hundreds of years.
The breeding habits of charr in Windermere were commented on as early as 1671, when Sir Daniel Fleming wrote: ‘up the river Routha [Rothay] go yearly plenty of large trouts, and up Brathey [Brathay] many case (a fish very like a charr but of different species), it spawning at another time of the year’. In a letter to Lord Arlington written in 1665 explaining the difference between charr and case Fleming says ‘They are much alike, but the latter is smaller and spawns at a different time’ (W.E. Frost, 1955).
International recognition of the Arctic charr populations of Windermere contributed to the Lake District becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017 and scientific study is an increasingly important part of ongoing conservation efforts to understand the behaviour of this rare species.
If you would like to support our work to save the Lake District Arctic charr from extinction, please consider donating to this Green Match Fund and double your donation!
Photo of Arctic charr by Lindsay McCrae
Photo of Arctic charr by Chris Conroy
Photo of Arctic charr by Lindsay McCrae
Photo of some of the research team from the 1st Oculus trial for the LD-CHARM project in October 2024
Photo of some of the research team from the 1st Oculus trial for the LD-CHARM project in October 2024
Photo of some of the research team from the 1st Oculus trial for the LD-CHARM project in October 2024
Photo of some of the research team from the 1st Oculus trial for the LD-CHARM project in October 2024
Photo of some of the research team from the 1st Oculus trial for the LD-CHARM project in October 2024
Special thanks to Lindsay McCrae and Chris Conroy for the use of these incredible underwater photographs of Arctic charr for the LD-CHARM project.