Lead organisation
ARK - Action for the River Kennet
Partner organisations
Pang Valley Flood Forum, Steering Group member
Environment Agency, Steering Group member
Thames Water, Steering Group member
Project description
This is a bold, collaborative effort to restore the River Pang and show what’s possible when partners come together at catchment scale.
Led by ARK – the Rivers Trust for the Kennet and Pang – this flagship project is focused on restoring the health, resilience and natural processes of one of West Berkshire’s most distinctive chalk streams. Working across the catchment, partners are uniting behind a long-term vision for recovery that puts the river back at the heart of the landscape.
The project forms part of a national strategy led by the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) Chalk Streams Group, created to protect and recover these globally rare rivers. As one of a small number of flagship chalk streams, the Pang has been selected to help demonstrate the art of the possible — inspiring others, sharing learning, and showing what ambitious, joined-up river restoration can achieve.
Within Thames Water’s operational area, the Pang is one of just two flagship chalk streams identified for catchment-scale restoration, with a shared goal of long-term recovery by 2035. This creates a powerful opportunity for collective action, aligning effort, expertise and investment to deliver real, lasting change.
Initial funding from Thames Water is already enabling restoration planning and early delivery, helping to turn ambition into action and build momentum across the catchment.
Project development began in 2025, with restoration activity planned and delivered over the next five years.
Project location
The Pang catchment, West Berkshire, within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.
Contribution to Big Chalk
By restoring chalk stream habitats at scale and working across boundaries, this project directly supports Big Chalk’s ambition to recover and reconnect chalk landscapes, ensuring these rare rivers can thrive long into the future.
Do you have a project that could strengthen the future of southern England’s iconic chalk and limestone landscapes?
The Big Chalk programme brings together a dynamic suite of partner-led projects, each unique in its focus, area, and partnerships but sharing a commitment to our collective vision.
If your project contributes to the Big Chalk mission, we invite you to register it as a Big Chalk Project. Registered projects gain access to networking, shared learning, and best practice—alongside the Big Chalk brand, boosting your profile and connecting you to a powerful, growing network of partners.
Together, these projects form a united effort to secure the future of southern England’s chalk and limestone landscapes, making a lasting impact for nature and communities.