Current farming methods are rain-fed and poorly managed, leading to large-scale forest clearance, land degradation and loss of wildlife.

Population initially reduced by hunting, latterly by forest clearance and drainage of wetland, along with egg-collection and human disturbance.

As our landscape was opened up, the water vole was for much of our history a success story, benefitting from forest clearance and the expansion of agriculture.

Biofuels are displacing food crops, which raises prices and in turn encourages forest clearance to grow more crops.

There are signs of forest clearance by burning from this site.