Protecting East Anglia
Bring life back to East Anglia’s rivers and wetlands.
Waterlife Recovery East brings together people and organisations with one shared purpose: the humane removal of invasive American mink from a large part of East Anglia. By working across whole landscapes, we aim to protect water voles and other native wildlife, and test what it would take to achieve mink eradication across Great Britain.
**Primary actions**
– View the project area
– Report a mink sighting or capture
– Volunteer with WRE
The challenge
One invasive predator. A shared solution.
American mink are a damaging invasive, non-native species. Their presence puts pressure on the wildlife that depends on East Anglia’s rivers, wetlands and waterways.
Waterlife Recovery East was established in 2019 to bring together the experience, knowledge and commitment of people already working to protect these places. Our work builds on the long-running East Anglian Mink and Water Vole Group, alongside partners from wildlife conservation, water management, game shooting and fishing.
Our aim
A mink-free East Anglia
Our ambition is the humane removal of American mink from a large part of East Anglia.
This would give native wildlife the opportunity to recover, while providing a meaningful test of the feasibility, cost and duration of a future eradication campaign across Great Britain.
Project priorities
- Remove American mink humanely and effectively
- Protect water voles and other native wildlife
- Coordinate action across waterways and landscapes
- Build the evidence needed for wider eradication work
The project area
Core and buffer zones
Removing mink from a large area takes more than isolated local action. WRE works across a defined project area, using a **core and buffer zone** approach to coordinate effort and protect progress.
Explore the WRE project area and see how the core and buffer zones support a coordinated approach to mink removal across East Anglia.
**Action:**
View the core and buffer zone map
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## Get involved
### Help protect local wildlife
Waterlife Recovery East depends on people who know and care about their local landscape. We work with landowners, wildlife organisations, fisheries, gamekeepers, householders and local interest groups.
Whether you can host equipment, report a sighting, share local knowledge or volunteer your time, every contribution helps strengthen the network protecting East Anglia’s waterways.
**Ways to help**
– Report an American mink sighting or capture
– Volunteer in your local area
– Connect us with a landowner or organisation
– Share the project with your community
**Primary action:**
Contact WRE about volunteering
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## Stay connected
### Follow the project
Sign up for future Waterlife Recovery East newsletters to hear about progress, wildlife recovery and opportunities to get involved.
You can also view previous newsletter editions to explore the project’s work so far.
**Actions**
– Subscribe to the newsletter
– Read past newsletters
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## About Waterlife Recovery Trust
### Part of a bigger mission
Waterlife Recovery East is part of Waterlife Recovery Trust’s wider work to protect native wildlife from American mink.
Visit the Trust’s main website to learn more about mink, their impact on native species and how humane, coordinated action can support long-term wildlife recovery.
**Action:**
Explore Waterlife Recovery Trust
This revised structure makes the project’s purpose, geography and calls to action visible much earlier, while keeping all claims within the information currently presented on the WRE page. [waterliferecoverytrust.org](https://www.waterliferecoverytrust.org.uk/wre/)