The River Restoration Centre - River Champions 2024
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RIVER CHAMPION
The LFCC is delighted to report that one of its long term and most active members has been recognised by The River Restoration Centre as one of their 2024 River Champions.
“ The success of projects aiming to improve rivers for wildlife and people is largely influenced by the involvement of volunteers. The River Restoration Centre understands the importance of this contribution and wishes to acknowledge those that may otherwise not get recognition. ‘River Champions’ seeks to recognise and celebrate the outstanding efforts of individuals contributing to improving rivers for wildlife and people outside of their day-today roles.”
Thanks to Russ Hatchett for the huge support that you have given the LFCC over a prolonged period
From all of our members.
Russ has been closely involved with projects for the Swallowfield Fishing Club (SFC), that have promoted habitat development and the study of fish populations in the club waters. He has run the websites both for the SFC and the Loddon Fisheries and Conservation Consultative (LFCC), and has recently taken a close interest and actively encouraged the establishment of the Angling Trust Water Quality Monitoring within the Loddon catchment. He is a crucial member of the LFCC team, planning and participating
practically in projects around the catchment including habitat restorations, fish surveys, invasive species control and public engagement events. He has provided valuable support to the Loddon Catchment Partnership and the Loddon Observatory project run by the University of Reading. Some of this work has also assisted the development of NFM initiatives in the catchment. He consistently brings a resourceful and enthusiastic contributionto any event, often utilizing his engineering background.
It is highly unlikely that the creation of two backwaters on the River Loddon and a gravel riffle on the lower River Blackwater would have occurred without Russ's drive and vision. In addition the development of a project to monitor the barbel population in SFC fisheries has been fully co-ordinated by Russ and has developed into a wider effort to assess the success of barbel stocked into the Loddon catchment from the EA's Calverton fish farm. He has also been instrumental in designing and running both the LFCC and SFC websites. His valuable input and support has been vital in continuing the work of the LFCC, and maintains the motivation of many others to continue caring for the nature based management of local rivers.
Freshwater? Reviving England’s polluted rivers
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A new report published by the BES asks what are the critical actions government should prioritise for freshwater before 2030?
We’ve seen the headlines, read the eye-popping investigations, and heard the exchanges between government, activists and water companies. From Joe Lycett on Channel 4 to the Environment Agency Chair at the NFU Conference last month – the calls for action to help our freshwater ecosystems are getting louder and more urgent. Within the UK, England’s rivers are in the worst health; only 16% classify as having ‘good’ ecological status and the public are increasingly horrified by what they’re hearing.
Full article here
Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy
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The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy team are looking for residents, community groups, charities, businesses, schools and colleges to get involved in shaping important plans for protecting and improving natural habitats in the county.
Join us for one of the community workshops:
Wokingham: Maiden Place Community Centre, Earley, RG6 3HD, 20 April, 10am-1pm
Royal Borough Windsor & Maidenhead: Braywick Nature Centre, SL6 1UU, 8 April, 9.30am -12.30pm *Bracknell Forest: Foxes Den Café, Binfield Community Centre, RG42 4EW, 10 April, 5:30–8:30pm
Slough: Salt Hill Activity Centre, SL1 3SS, 16 April, 11am -2pm
West Berkshire: Corn Exchange, Hungerford Town Hall, RG17 0NF, 23 April, 12-3pm
Reading: Dee Space Community Centre, RG30 4YH, 25 April, 12-3pm
Online workshop (Berkshire-wide): Zoom, 30 April, 6.30–8pm Refreshments provided – tea, coffee, biscuits, sandwiches, and an option of a short walk to bring to life an example of great nature work locally.
Please register to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/public-engagement-events-3046799?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=odclsxcollection
State Of Our Rivers Report 2024
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Almost everything we do on land impacts our rivers. Rivers carry the chemical and physical fingerprint of their local catchments – the land area around rivers from which water drains. They have been polluted, channelised, fragmented by barriers and rarely still follow their natural course. Their current state reflects what we’ve done across their catchments over hundreds of years.
Some forms of pollution are obvious from the riverbank; plastic bottles and crisp packets bobbing in the water, brightly coloured single-use vapes nestled on the riverbed, wet wipes tangled in overhanging vegetation and streams of murky soil washed from fields or grey wastewater from combined sewage overflows (CSOs).
But, looks can be deceiving. Even the clearest looking waters can contain microplastics, industrial chemicals, hydrocarbons, fertilizers and pesticides, and even pharmaceuticals. Untreated sewage spills blight most of our rivers, and even treated wastewater still contains a cocktail of chemicals like pharmaceuticals, pesticides from veterinary flea treatments, nutrients and household cleaning products when it is returned to our waterways.
Getting a clear picture of the state of our rivers is not a simple task – and the issues lie in the availability of data. Across the UK and Ireland, the regulators in each nation monitor water quality and river health in different ways and at different times, making clear-cut comparisons or broad conclusions hard to draw.
The Rivers Trust has produced the above titled report along with an interactive map which can be found at the link below:
https://theriverstrust.org/rivers-report-2024?mc_cid=6187b0d974&mc_eid=06f045f9d4
LFCC Agenda April 2024
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The agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Loddon Fisheries & Conservation Consultative is now available on the downloads page and at the link below.
https://www.lfcc.org.uk/downloads/20-lfcc-documents/9-agenda?download=256
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