ludes several large-scale projects which have been developed through the partnership. A£1.8 million improvement project along the River Taw, funded by the Environment Agency, is designed to decrease polluted surface runoff from fields and urban areas into the river. The project will restore habitats and remove obstacles such as weirs which prevent animals from freely moving between sections of the river. The decrease in pollution is also hoped to increase beach quality in places such as Instow, which failed water quality tests in 2012, one of only sixteen beaches in the South West to fail. A Nature Improvement Area proposed to protect and enhance the catchment of the River Torridge—home of Tarka the Otter in Henry Williamson's book of the same name—was chosen by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as one of twelve nationally important landscapes which will receive funding to restore and recreate ecosystems in the area. Other large projects work to use the natural environment to offset the negative impacts of human activities within the Biosphere.
The predominant farm type in Devon is livestock farming, which includes dairy, lowland cattle, and sheep farms. In 2006, the total labour force on Devon farms was 23,240 people, with around 7,953 employed full-time. The majority of land within the biosphere reserve is farmland, which helps support the local economy, but is not designated with statutory protection. The reserve is therefore managed carefully with the cooperation of farmers and landowners; as the boundaries of the reserve are the catchment areas of the River Taw and River Torridge, extra precaution must be taken in protecting water supplies from nonpoint source pollution. Rainwater can accumulate residues of fertilisers, especially nitrates and phosphates. Once leached into the rivers they can affect the river ecology through eutrophication, causing damage to plants and animals. This is one of the most pervasive water quality problems in Europe. Pathogens excreted by animals can also directly affect humans when transported by rainwater to rivers and the sea where people swim. Another problem is river sedimentation caused by fine soil particles washing from the land into rivers, this causes high rates of mortality in fish eggs and can affect fish feeding habits. The Biosphere Reserve Partnership provides support to farms that encourage sustainable practices, benefit the environment, and have a good role within the community.
North Devon's Biosphere Reserve contains many nationally important habitats including culm grassland (Molinia caerulea and Juncus spp.), broadleaved woodlands, estuaries, and coastal heathland. A 10-year Biodiversity Action Plan for the reserve identifies actions that can be carried out by the partnership to help nature conservation, learning, and research. It also contains 63 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), 671 County Wildlife Sites, a Special Area of Conservation, and six Local Nature Reserves.
The Braunton Burrows core area consists of fixed and mobile sand dune systems with geomorphological and successional processes. There are also variable-flooded slacks, grassland and scrub further inland supporting a wide variety of flowering and lower plants, birds, and insects. It includes the complete successional range of dune plant communities, with over 400 vascular plant species. It is characterised by marram grass (Ammophila arenaria), round-headed club-rush (Scirpoides holoschoenus), sharp rush (Juncus acutus), and willow (Salix) species. On the strandline there is rock sea lavender (Limonium binervosum). The fore and mid dunes are generally sandy yellow dunes, colonised and stabilised by marram grass. Other notable species include sea stock (Matthiola sinuate), sea stork's-bill (Erodium maritimum), sea clover (Trifolium aquamosum), Portland spurge (Euphorbia portlandica), sea spurge (Euphorbia paralias), and white horehound (Marrubium vulgare). Further inland, the stable grey dunes are stabilised by other species such as dune fescue (Vulpia membranacea).