About Us
East Wicklow Rivers Trust is a Registered Charity in the Republic of Ireland. Our Registered Charity Number (RCN) is 20206653.
The East Wicklow Rivers Trust officially formed at the start of 2019 as a community-based effort to engage in a planning process that had the potential to harm the Vartry river.
The trust covers an area of over 1300 square kilometers stretching from Bray to Arklow. We cover the Vartry, Avoca and Dargle rivers and all the rivers, streams lakes and wetlands shown in the map.
Trusts are independent community-led charitable organisation, recognised as important deliverers of education, water management advice and practical conservation work, from source to sea – improving land, rivers and wetlands at a catchment or river basin scale.
The trust initially formed with 8 voluntary directors or trustees, made up of some of the people who were originally involved in the community appeal to protect the Vartry river, some local individuals with whom we connected through public consultation and some people with specific skills to help with the legal and governance side of setting up. We also have a voluntary admin support to help us keep the house in order.
The trust initially formed with 8 voluntary directors or trustees, made up of some of the people who were originally involved in the community appeal to protect the Vartry river, some local individuals with whom we connected through public consultation and some people with specific skills to help with the legal and governance side of setting up. We also have a voluntary admin support to help us keep the house in order.
The formation of this trust would not have been possible without encouragement and support from all sides, from the local authority and prescribed bodies to River Basin Management Service (formally LAWPRO) as well as many private individuals. Special thanks go to Mark Horton from The Rivers Trust and Sinead Hurson from River Basin Management Service, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support this initiative.
Read about the Board of Directors and support team here.
The well-established Slaney and Nore Rivers Trusts have been joined by a growing network of community-led trusts across the country, including Inishowen (Donegal), Maigue (Limerick), Waterville Lakes and Rivers (Kerry), and the River Moy Trust (Mayo).
Northern Ireland hosts eight trusts stretching from the River Lagan to the Erne system. Two of these, the River Blackwater Catchment Trust and Erne Rivers Trust, operate as cross-border entities, making them the first international rivers trusts in the network.
Together, the 20 trusts on the island of Ireland form part of a broader conservation movement alongside 44 trusts in England and Wales and 25 in Scotland.
In Ireland, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, alongside the River Basin Management Service (formerly LAWPRO), actively supports the expansion of the rivers trust network. State funding is available for local communities interested in establishing a rivers trust in their catchment area.