Latest News

Partial removal of Long Preston weir

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Last week, the Ribble Rivers Trust completed a partial removal of the ‘Long Preston weir’, taking out 60% of the weir. The weir had a width of 21 metres across the river and a head of around 0.5m.

The weir is located on the river Ribble within the Long Preston Deeps floodplain, near the historic town of Settle in North Yorkshire. The weir only starts to appear on maps in the 1970s and was originally built to provide aeration to Settle sewage treatment works (adjacent to the site) but is no longer required due to advances in sewage treatment works.

Riparian Tree Planting Grant Programme

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

£1.4m of new funding for tree-planting projects with a focus on the water environment this financial year.

This programme is competitive and will be prioritised by the EA, first at an area level and secondly on a national level. We will be prioritising projects based on the following criteria: - Confidence in ability to deliver by March 2021 - Contribution to improving water environment including WFD status, NFM etc. - Value for money - Scale, we will be looking for larger projects in the region of £50 – 95k.

Environment Agency open to replacement of WFD

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

The Environment Agency has admitted that surface and groundwater quality in England has remained static from 2016 to 2019 and is "a long way from the government’s ambitions". 

It has also confirmed to Environment Analyst that it is considering advocating new UK legislation to replace the EU’s Water Framework Directive but denied that this will lead to a degradation of environmental standards.

PM commits to protect 30% of UK land in boost for biodiversity

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

The Prime Minister is committing today (Monday 28 September) to protect 30% of the UK’s land by 2030.

Existing National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas already comprise approximately 26% of land in England. An additional 4% – over 400,000 hectares, the size of the Lake District and South Downs national parks combined – will be protected to support the recovery of nature.

Ten year strategy for Bristol to confront ecological emergency

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

It’s not too late to reverse the unprecedented and escalating decline in wildlife, says the man leading Bristol’s response to the ecological emergency.

But urgent action is needed and that’s why a ten-year citywide strategy has been unveiled, outlining a series of solutions designed to confront the challenges faced, and increase the scale and speed of work to match the urgency of the issue.

Businesses urged to harness 'nature-based solutions' to combat climate emergency

Friday, September 25, 2020

Businesses have been called upon to trial and pilot 'nature-based solutions' (NBS) in helping them reduce environmental impacts while helping the surrounding areas improve resiliency against a range of climate risks.

That is the call to action from a new report from the Ignition project, a collaborative group of organisations aimed at developing NBS in the Greater Manchester area.

Innovative digital projects that will tackle environmental challenges receive funding

Monday, September 21, 2020

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has awarded individual grants of up to £1.2 million to seven research projects that will use cutting-edge digital technology to advance environmental outcomes.

As part of the ‘Constructing a Digital Environment’ Programme, these projects will seek to develop tools and systems that will tackle real-life environmental challenges. The Programme aims to construct a digitally enabled environment which benefits researchers, policy makers, businesses, communities and individuals. It is funded through the Strategic Priorities Fund.

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