Vote for Rivers – question your candidates

Tag: non-native invasive species

Vote for Rivers – question your candidates

Posted on by Ian Lamont
How will you #VoteforRivers?
How will you #VoteforRivers?

We’re calling on you to join the #VoteforRivers campaign run by the Rivers Trust in the lead-up to the General Election on Thursday 4th July. 

This is your chance to use the power we have as voters to advocate for nature restoration and to take this vital opportunity to speak up for healthy rivers. 

We’ve set out asks under five headings, whether you plan to seek answers from candidates who come knocking on the door, question them at local hustings or want to write to them. 

You can find the candidates running in your area using The Electoral Commission and download the letter to write to them, or have the asks handy when meeting candidates in person.  

We want you to ask the new Government to: 

1. Prioritise nature recovery – make nature-based solutions like trees and wetlands to improve the environment and tackle climate change as first choice, rather than relying on chemicals and concrete. 

For example, we at the South East Rivers Trust have just completed Chamber Mead wetlands in Ewell, Surrey, which diverts road runoff away from the River Hogsmill. Plants being established there will also bring huge biodiversity benefits to the Hogsmill Local Nature Reserve. 

We are working on restoring water voles, eels and trout via our WET Hogsmill project, we have restored a section of the River Blackwater in Hampshire and the Wandle in Morden Hall Park with woody debris and by adding gravel. 

2. Improve our understanding of rivers – support better data and evidence to improve regulatory monitoring and recognise the value of citizen science alongside it. 

Through our work engaging the public and encouraging them to take part in citizen science, we collect data on the health of our rivers.
Examples include training volunteers to:  

3. Support education and engagement about rivers – No one will protect what they don’t know about or understand – and what they have not experienced. So we need the Government to support education about the environment and rivers at all levels.  

Educating pupils
The South East Rivers Trust has an extensive education programme

The South East Rivers Trust has programmes supporting education of primary school children and community groups across London catchments and the River Mole.

Our events also demonstrate the value of our work through walks and talks across a wide range of topics and we take part in awareness campaigns such as London Rivers Week.  

4. Make polluters pay – drive strong enforcement of those who pollute to turn the tide on the abuse of our rivers. 

We have recently supported a campaign to clear Hoad’s Wood in Ashford of fly-tipping. After a petition, the Government has now issued a clean-up edict which will cost the taxpayer huge sums. Nobody has yet been traced to pay for the clean-up. 

We work on various projects funded after pollution incidents, through mechanisms such as voluntary reparations. One is the Mending the Upper Mole project which allows us to expand awareness of rivers and carry out restoration in many ways far wider than the original incident. 

5. Manage land with water in mind – empower collaborative working that gets everyone involved in restoring our rivers. 

Leaky wooden dams are a nature-based solution used by SERT on the River Beult among other places
Leaky wooden dams are a nature-based solution used by SERT on the River Beult among other places
  • At the South East Rivers Trust we lead several catchment partnerships across 12 river catchments. These work collaboratively with many other organisations and individuals to bring rivers back to life. They need investment and funding to do so. 
  • Our Holistic Water for Horticulture project also works with food growers in Kent and the South East to ensure water efficiency and resilience in the process of getting food from farm to fork. 
  • This is part of the work of our Water and Land Stewardship team, which has worked closely with farmers on the River Beult in Kent on nature-based solutions to retain water and enhance biodiversity, for the benefit of wildlife and people. We are involved in national pilots for Environmental Land Management Schemes, funded by Government, working with farms to manage land in sustainable ways.   
  • For example, we are working with farmers and landowners and other environment NGOs on the River Darent catchment to implement a radical, large-scale approach to delivering climate benefits – starting with rivers.  

Here are some questions you can ask your candidates 

  • How will you and your party tackle all types of pollution in our rivers? Sewage is not the only issue; farming and road runoff pollution are also devastating our rivers. 
  • Will your party boost funding for regulators and strengthen enforcement so polluters are made to pay for their pollution? 
  • How will your party work with nature to improve river health and tackle climate change? 
  • How will your party open up rivers and blue spaces in our towns and cities for health and wellbeing? 
  • How will your party support farmers and businesses manage their land sustainably for water? 

No matter where you live across our 12 catchments, there is a river near you. Find our river using our map, using your postcode. There a hundreds of candidates standing for constituencies from Berkshire through Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent and south London who want your vote – so press them on the hot topics! 

Thank you for standing up for rivers!

Sewage a campaign issue BBC London News, 28th May:

Use our email template:

If you are writing to your candidates, you could use or adapt the Rivers Trust’s template, by copying and pasting the information below or adding in your own asks on rivers. Don’t forget you can source candidate details via The Electoral Commission. 

Dear [Candidate name], 

I will be voting for rivers in the General Election on 4th July 2024 and, as a local resident and voter, need to know how you intend to stand up for our waterways. 

The Rivers Trust’s State of Our Rivers Report 2024 lays bare the dire health of our waterways, which are facing devastating levels of pollution, swinging between extremes of flood and drought, and experiencing shocking drops in biodiversity: 

0% of stretches of river in England are in good or high overall health. 

This is not breaking news – the issues faced by our rivers have been hitting the headlines for years and causing widespread public outcry. Yet not enough is being done to restore or protect our waterways. 

Healthy rivers should be a priority for the next Government. From re-wiggling rivers, restoring floodplains, and greening our urban spaces, restoring our rivers means securing community resilience, a future for wildlife, and action for climate. 

This is why I am supporting The Rivers Trust’s asks for political candidates and parties: 

Prioritise nature recovery – make nature-based solutions like trees and wetlands to improve the environment and tackle climate change first choice, rather than relying on chemicals and concrete. 

Improve our understanding of rivers – support better data and evidence to improve regulatory monitoring and recognise the value of citizen science alongside it. 

Support education about rivers  – no one will understand or care about what they haven’t experienced. Outdoor learning is key to nurturing a lifelong love of rivers.

Make polluters pay – drive strong enforcement of those who pollute to turn the tide on the abuse of our rivers. 

Manage land with water in mind – empower collaborative working that gets everyone involved in restoring our rivers. 

Please let me know what actions you and your party intend to take to deliver the asks above and restore the health of our waterways. 

I look forward to hearing from you and, if possible, please copy info@theriverstrust.org in your reply. 

Yours sincerely, 

[Sender name] 

 

Working wonders in Wandle Fortnight

Posted on by Ian Lamont

Dozens of volunteers made a huge difference to the River Wandle during Wandle Fortnight (11th-24th September), carrying out restoration or learning to record invasive species across the catchment.

Firstly, about 40 volunteers in total worked across five days at Morden Hall Park, continuing our on-going work along this section of the Wandle at the National Trust site.

In a separate event, we also trained more than 20 people how to spot invasive non-native species (INNS) so they could go out during the Fortnight and record their presence using an App, to inform our catchment work.

These two events were intrinsically linked: when we take volunteers to continue our Morden Hall Park work twice a year in autumn and spring, the first task is to remove floating pennywort. This invasive plant is regularly seen across other parts of the Wandle and was one of the top types of INNS our volunteers were trained to record.

We also took the opportunity of Wandle Fortnight to schedule an event to talk to residents about a weir lowering project.

The problems with pennywort

Removing floating pennywort at Morden Hall Park in September 2023
Removing floating pennywort at Morden Hall Park in September 2023 as part of Wandle Fortnight

Like many invasive species, the pennywort might look colourful, but this fast-growing plant crowds out native plants, takes oxygen from fish and insects and cuts out light, inhibiting aquatic wildlife. At Morden Hall, the removed pennywort is composted by the National Trust. It can form a big mat, meaning volunteers drag this a short distance to a boat or suitable exit place for it to be lifted out of the water.

If pennywort is left to decay in the river, the bottom of slow moving sections as useful river channel for wildlife, depleting oxygen levels as it breaks down. This further serves to prevent many invertebrates and other species from completing their life cycles, reducing biodiversity.

Once we removed the pennywort, volunteers then turned their efforts to installing four more deflectors – large pieces of wood – and creating three more berms along the banks at Morden Hall, completing the current round of work, funded by the Environment Agency, we have been doing there since 2020.

Watch volunteers work on a berm

Manoeuvring the deflectors and putting stakes in to keep them in place is tough physical work, but the benefits are huge as we change a once-straight river into a meandering channel where the flow is much more varied. These large tree chunks, cut down as part of woodlands management by the National Trust, help to clean gravels and create pools behind them, providing areas where fish can spawn and thrive.

Planting a berm at Morden Hall Park on the River Wandle
Volunteers planting a berm at Morden Hall Park on the River Wandle

The berms, which are built as an extension of the sides of the river, are made of brash. Volunteers planted them with sedge species that work best in shady areas. These plants were mostly relocated from the wetlands and help to filter out pollutants and excess nutrients while providing habitats for invertebrates.  Golden flag iris was one plant inserted into these berms. Volunteers, many of whom have returned after previous sessions, could see the vegetation from previous efforts providing nourishment for nature.

Project officer Harry Clarke said: “The twice-yearly efforts by volunteers at Morden Hall Park are really starting to bear fruit and be visible. Now we can see moor hens, herons and ducks regularly making the most of the benefits of a narrower river channel and much more vegetation along the banks.”

The flow of the river now has a much more meandering course as a result of our work over the past few years – and our video shows the results.

Training volunteers to help us map invasive plants

Our INNS training session at Sutton Ecology Centre was attended by 22 people, who learned about various plant species that do harm to our rivers. Newly educated, they were empowered to carry out surveys on walks alongside rivers, starting in Wandle Fortnight. They have until the end of October to record them on an .  The data these citizen scientists collect will help us – as catchment partnership hosts for the Wandle – form plans to tackle INNS on the entire river network in the future.

While floating pennywort, Giant Hogsweed and Himalayan Balsam might be best known and the most common invasive fauna on our rivers, volunteers were also trained to look out for Japanese knotweed, parrots feather, New Zealand pygmy weed and giant rhubarb.

Japanese knotweed, introduced to the UK in the mid-1800s, is known to be along the river at Poulter’s Park. Emerging in March, it can grow at 5-10cm a day and easily displace native vegetation. Dying back in winter, it leaves bare soil which, if washed out, can spread downstream. Where large stands of the plant persist on river banks there is an increased sediment input into the river. In slow moving waters this silt will accumulate and smother the riverbed, rendering the habitat unsuitable for fish spawning.

We asked volunteers to survey for giant rhubarb (gunnera tinctoria) for the first time, because it has been found in other parts of the UK. Giant rhubarb is an ornamental plant originally found in Chile and Argentina which thrives in streams or roadsides, liking damp conditions.

This plant’s wide leaf span and large dense stands can have a dramatic impact on the local biodiversity by excluding light. On rivers it causes erosion to banks, exposing them to fast running water after die-back in winter. Identified as a non-native invasive species, it is illegal to knowingly allow it to spread outside a property.

Parrots feather’s rapid growth means it quickly outcompetes native vegetation, forming mats and blocking sunlight and depleting oxygen levels for river wildlife. Left to spread in the wild we’re likely to see an increasing area of land lost to grazing as well as significant impacts on our biodiversity and road-side drains.

Similarly, New Zealand pigmy weed likes garden ponds. It also harms the growth of native vegetation in rivers forming a dense mat and reducing food, shelter and refuge for aquatic species.

Rachael Edwards, Volunteer Officer for SERT, said: “The efforts of volunteers as they walk along riverbanks looking for these species will really have a big impact on the action plan we, as hosts of the Wandle catchment partnership, can put together to tackle INNS for many years to come. We will then be able to focus our efforts on problem areas and know where, for example, to focus our efforts for our popular ‘balsam bashes’.”

Explaining the Goat Bridge weir project

One of our last events in Wandle Fortnight was to talk to residents about a project to lower the weir at Goat Bridge and make changes to the river channel, improving a section at Mitcham for wildlife.

Explaining the Goat Bridge weir and restoration project to residents
Explaining the Goat Bridge weir project to residents

Nearly 30 people attended our community event where partners from Thames Water, the London Borough of Sutton, the Environment Agency and engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald explained the project at a nearby community centre and by conducting tours of the area.

The key reason for lowering the weir and installing rock ramps and bed check weirs is to make this part of the Wandle passable for fish. At present it is totally impassible.

Currently, the weir leaves about a 500m section of the River Wande with conditions akin to a lake, as opposed to a flowing river.

Work on the project is scheduled to begin later this autumn.

Full details about the project and its benefits to the river  can be found on our dedicated web page.

Our video shows how the weir at Goat Bridge creates a barrier to fish passage.