Credit: Nik Shelton
Channel 4
It’s fantastic to see rivers in the spotlight once again locally and in the UK. The Channel 4 series Dirty Business has highlighted the devastating impact of pollution in our waterways and features the stories of some of the campaigners who fought to bring the issue to light.
Locally we have backed South Cambs MP Pippa Heylings’ call for chalk streams in England to be designated as a Unesco World Heritage site and get better protection. After a launch recently near Cambridge alongside Wildlife Trusts national CEO Craig Bennett she has spoken on the issue in the House of Commons. Read the BBC’s coverage at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98q94n915yo
Credit: Nik Shelton
This year’s Water White Paper sets out the Government’s plan ‘to transform the water system’ in England and will lead to a new Water Bill which will be announced in the Kings Speech in May.
The Wildlife Trusts’ initial response to the Government’s plans can be found here and we are backing the joint nature sector campaign Clean Water Now. The campaign, spearheaded by Wildlife and Countryside Link is focused on three aims: stop the polluters, fix the system and restore nature. You can read more and get involved at www.wcl.org.uk/clean-water-now.asp
You can also send a message to your MP through the Wildlife Trusts’ Save our Chalk Streams campaign. So far more than 3,000 people have contacted their MPs via the campaign page at https://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/183198/action/1 and you can too.
Meanwhile our Wider Countryside teams are bringing people together to achieve practical results for wildlife on the rivers and streams in our region, monitoring, surveying, tackling invasive species like Himalayan balsam, planning river restoration projects and working with landowners. Our Water for Wildlife officer in Cambridgeshire, Ruth Hawksley, spotted a sign that this work is making a difference this week when she saw these brook lampreys spawning in a chalk stream in South Cambridgeshire.
The smallest of the UK’s lamprey species, these ancient jawless fish are threatened by habitat loss and pollution and are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Their presence in our local chalk streams is a sign of hope and shows the difference fighting for rivers can make.
