On 18 July The Rivers Belief and South East Rivers Belief welcomed the brand new Secretary of State for Atmosphere, Meals and Rural Affairs Steve Reed MP to Chamber Mead Wetlands, an illustration of how nature-based options could be enhance river well being. The Secretary of State was additionally joined by Alan Lovell, Chair of the Atmosphere Company, and Defra Water Director Sebastian Catovsky.
The Chamber Mead Wetlands had been put in by South East Rivers Belief within the Chamber Mead native nature reserve to be able to sort out sewage and street run-off air pollution affecting the Hogsmill River, a chalk stream. The wetlands will even help biodiversity in and across the Hogsmill and enhance the amenity worth of this neighborhood area with a bridge and informational signage. Through the go to, the Secretary of State heard how and why the wetlands had been put in, how companions had been engaged and funding secured, and the way classes discovered from the undertaking might assist to take away limitations and facilitate the broader implementation of nature-based options throughout water catchments.
Mr Reed additionally joined The Rivers Belief and South East Rivers Belief in amassing an eDNA pattern as a part of the trouble to measure the impression of the brand new wetlands on aquatic wildlife.
Secretary of State for Atmosphere, Meals and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed: “The Rivers Belief’s glorious work at Chamber Mead Wetlands demonstrates the important function nature-based options play in cleansing up our rivers, lakes and seas.
“The brand new authorities has instantly launched new measures to make sure that funding is ringfenced in order that it’s spent on tasks like these, relatively than paid in salaries, bonuses and dividends.”
Mark Lloyd, Chief Govt of The Rivers Belief: “We’re very proud to have the ability to present the brand new Secretary of State this undertaking and to debate methods through which nature-based options equivalent to this city wetland can ship a number of advantages to society by storing water, purifying pollution, lowering greenhouse gases, offering area for nature, providing public entry and cooling the native air. We have to scale up these options, particularly to make sure that new developments on housing, planning and transport happen alongside constructing resilience in our communities to local weather change and reversing the steep decline in biodiversity. The Rivers Belief motion stands able to work in partnership with the federal government on this side of our nationwide renewal.”
Bella Davies, Co-CEO of South East Rivers Belief: “We’re delighted to host the Secretary of State on the Chamber Mead wetland right now. The wetland tackles sewage and concrete street runoff air pollution earlier than it enters the Hogsmill River, which is a uncommon chalk stream, one among round 220 on the earth, supporting a singular set of species depending on the chalk-purified water. We designed the wetland to offer different advantages, which enabled us to entry a mixture of private and non-private funding from many companions. Every associate paid for profit that the majority them, whether or not that’s cleansing up sewage, defending endangered wildlife or bettering water high quality. Most significantly, the wetland brings a brand new characteristic for the local people to loosen up and luxuriate in nature. We’re glad that the brand new Authorities sees the huge advantages of nature-based options and we urge them to take motion to interrupt down limitations to those sorts of tasks and help organisations equivalent to ours to ship extra at scale sooner or later.”
