Ram river is an extraordinary watercourse in Val Müstair: clean water, a close to natural river system and a great diversity of plants and animals. Many are also the interests at stake: hydropower, nature protection, tourism. Now inhabitants have to decide decide whether Switzerland and Italy will travel common paths on river management.

In a Radio 4 programme aired in April as part of the Nature series, Brett Westwood explored the growing use of coarse woody debris (CWD) in managing rivers.  

 ''According to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, fish live in trees too'', says the BBC Radio 4. ''The Trust's biologists are using wood as a remarkably effective tool to change the depth and flow of streams and improve them for wildlife. They don't just stop at streams either: at the confluence of the Tame and Trent rivers, they've submerged entire willow trees in gravel islands in a project to widen the river channel.

A two day conference was hosted by the River Restoration Centre and held at Nottingham University in April. The event presented some of the most cutting edge and innovative ways of achieving river restoration to a 200 strong audience of international environmental experts.

Between 9 and 11 May 2012, the International Workshop 'Sharing River Restoration Knowledge and Experience in Europe' will be held in Iasi, Romania, organized by the Romanian Institute of Hydrology and Water Management with the support of DLG Goverment Service for Land and Water Management, The Netherlands.

The River Chelt (a tributary of England's largest river, the Severn) is a fantastic haven for wildlife and has benefited this month from restoration.  Over the coming weeks the area will be landscaped and  a new meandering section of river has been created to bypass the Norton Weir.  This will attract more wildlife such as birds, bats, dragonflies and eels.