Do you know of a river or stream that sometimes stops flowing? Have you ever wondered when, where and why it stops, or what the damage might be? Scientists and environmental regulators are looking for answers to the same questions, but there is a problem. Lack of data.
Better planning and implementation of ‘rewilding’ projects would benefit ecosystems and humans, scientists have said.
Researchers from several European institutions, including the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, have drawn up a blueprint suggesting how to plan and carry out rewilding, a concept that describes the attempt to restore large areas of land to become as natural as possible.
We are working hard to protect our native species from invasive non-native species including Himalayan balsam and American mink
London is the most vulnerable city in western Europe to climate-related impacts including floods and drought, according to a recent report from the Green Party on the London Assembly. Hundreds of schools, hospitals and tube stations in London are at risk of flooding, according to the report.
Thanks to work by Tyne Rivers Trust, fish will soon be able to access parts of the River Derwent that they haven’t been able to reach since the industrial revolution.
The construction of a fish pass at Shotley Bridge will enable a range of species such as lamprey, eels, grayling, brown trout, sea trout and salmon to move up and down the river for the first time since the weir was built 300 years ago to power a mill.
There has been a slight increase in unsustainable abstraction from surface water bodies, according to the Environment Agency's (EA) progress report on abstraction reform.
The report, published yesterday, is a statutory requirement under the Water Act 2014 and sets out the Environment Agency’s actions over the period 2014 to 2019.
In a recent survey of 635 potential water restoration sites, volunteers found that 31% had natural levels of phosphate and nitrate, which means these water sources are clean enough to support new habitats. It goes to show how much opportunity there is for reinvigorating the biodiversity of rivers and surrounding habitats.
A practical handbook for farmers has recently been published by SRUC. The handbook is called "Natural Flood Management: A Farmer's Guide" and is available from the link below. The guide aims to give advice on NFM to landowners and farmers in Scotland. The handbook contains advice on measures such as riparian planting, sediment traps and wetland creation. It also contains case study examples.
River restoration is often mentioned in these pages and is the ultimate aim of the Wild Trout Trust and many other organisations. Restoration is not only about making improvements for fish and wildlife, but finding solutions that are accepted by the local community and landowners and which will work in the long term. The natural processes of erosion, sediment transport and deposition make rivers dynamic, constantly changing systems. It is important to understand and work with these processes for projects to be successful.
For the Wandle Trust's May cleanup they headed to Plough Lane in Merton. They started off the day with a Welcome Talk and Health & Safety briefing. For the first time this year they were lucky to have lovely sunny weather, so everyone was very eager to crack on with wading and litter picking around the banks.
