The DURESS project – Diversity of Upland Rivers for Ecosystem Service Sustainability – is part of a major UK Research Council initiative to assess how biodiversity provides the ecosystem services on which people depend. This £3 million project was launched in May 2012 and involves a consortium of 28 researchers from a range of disciplines and institutions led from Cardiff University. Key stakeholder partners represent the water industry, policy makers, the health sector, regulators, nature conservation, land owners, land managers and the leisure industry.