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Welcome to our website!Helping communities to help rivers across the UK and Ireland |
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The
world's rivers have
never been under such stress. Even in the UK and Ireland, rivers are
under
huge pressure from human activities. River picture by Ryan Hagerty courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service |
What's new?
Here are some new things on our website and elsewhere...
Introduction to rivers: A simple new guide to the basic features of rivers from Explain that Stuff!- Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea: the Best Places to Swim Outdoors in Britain: is a brilliant new book by Kate Rew published in May 2008. Yes, you really can swim in rivers if you use your common sense, and if people provide good, clear information on safety and risks. Hopefully this book will give the growing, outdoor swimming movement the boost it needs.
- If you're concerned about
dwindling fish stocks in our seas (and if not, you jolly well should be), take a look at
the brilliantly helpful MCS Fish Online website. It lists fish you can eat
and fish you should avoid.
- We're continuing to develop our educational pages.
We've just collected together new pages of pollution photos and
river photos for students. Need to find out about water pollution? Check out our ever-popular Pollution page.
Don't forget these older pages:
- Interested
in setting up your own river group, campaign, or project? Check out
our new guide: Adopting a river: How to
get out, get dirty, and make a difference.
- Want to get involved with local river conservation projects? Take a look at our
ever-popular Network page.
We've now (finally) got an interactive map of all the UK river groups we know about.
Latest news from the riverbanks
Picture by Ian Britton from FreeFoto.com.
Our river news is updated at least once a week.
If you use RSS (a way of getting news headlines delivered automatically to your web browser), why not try our new
RSS feed.
Feel free to serve news on your own website using our feed, but please would you be kind enough to make a link back to this page if you do so.
Mon, 18 Aug 2008:
UK people use 4645 litres of water a day EACH!: Factor in "hidden" sources, like the water needed for food and clothing, and we're each using a huge and totally unsustainable amount of water.
Wed, 20 Aug 2008:
Why growers need more water: Colin Chartres, director-general of the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI), argues that freshwater is being overlooked as a cause of food scarcity and environmental degradation.
Tue, 19 Aug 2008:
Dolphins teach tail-walking: A wild dolphin is teaching her friends how to tail-walk (an activity normal only seen in captive dolphins).
Tue, 19 Aug 2008:
Free fly fishing for the family in Wales: Dating back to the time of the ancient Romans, fly fishing has become one of the most popular and enjoyable forms of fishing enjoyed by anglers throughout Britain. For those who fancy learning the ropes, or rather how to cast a line, taster sessions are being offered on the 20 and 21 August. The Environment Agency has teamed up with the Get Hooked on Fishing Charity to offer a fantastic free fly fishing session for the whole family at Llyn Clywedog in mid Wales.
Tue, 19 Aug 2008:
Urban wastewater threatens world's farms: Polluted wastewater is causing urgent problems for irrigation, especially in developing countries, according to a new report.
Mon, 18 Aug 2008:
Legal protection for rare pool frog: From 1 October 2008, the pool frog together with the lesser whirlpool ram's-horn snail and the Fisher's estuarine moth will be legally protected through the Habitats Regulations from being killed, taken, injured, disturbed, owned or sold, or having their resting or breeding places destroyed.
Mon, 18 Aug 2008:
Otter drowned in illegal trap in Devon: The Environment Agency has warned of the dangers of illegal fish traps after an adult otter was found dead in a trap on the River Tamar.
Mon, 18 Aug 2008:
Thank Madonna for new Thames bridge: Visitors to this year's Reading Festival will be able to cross the River Thames on a bridge made from one of Madonna's old stages.
Fri, 15 Aug 2008:
Wild trout fishing on the River Ebble: Do you want it?: There are just a few weeks to go for people who live in the Salisbury area to let the Environment Agency know what they think about plans to turn the river Ebble into a wild trout fishing river (one of the few in England).
Fri, 15 Aug 2008:
Climate Change Affects UK's Birds, says report: Climate change is causing a number of widespread British birds to lay their eggs much earlier than 40 years ago, that's just one of the trends revealed in the latest State of the UK's Birds report, an annual publication produced by a coalition of conservation organisations looking at the fortunes of the UK's bird populations.
Fri, 15 Aug 2008:
Olympic swimsuit mimics shark skin: Olympic star Michael Phelps can thank sharks for some of his success. The Speedo LZR Racer suit, worn by the eight-times gold medal winner is the result of many years of research, including the study of preserved sharks at the Natural History Museum.
Fri, 15 Aug 2008:
Dead zones spread across the oceans: According to a new report, there are now more than 400 dead zones suffocating coastal waters and posing as great a threat to marine life as overfishing and climate change.
Fri, 15 Aug 2008:
How big should a water strider's feet be?: Science magazine has an interesting article explaining how a French physicist has calculated the optimum size for keeping a water strider's feet balanced by surface tension.
Wed, 13 Aug 2008:
On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction: Wise words from wise old bird Oliver Tickell, writing in The Guardian, who argues that it's high time we went beyond Kyoto.
Wed, 13 Aug 2008:
Shell's oil sands greenwash won't wash with the ASA: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld WWF's complaint against an advert placed by Shell in the Financial Times earlier this year, which suggested that oil sands were a sustainable energy source. The ASA (the independent body responsible for regulating UK advertising) branded the advert 'misleading', due to its ambiguous use of the word 'sustainable'.
Tue, 12 Aug 2008:
Environment Agency calls for partnership work to protect salmon and sea trout: A new strategy through to 2021 to help protect the iconic salmon and sea trout from the complex environmental challenges they face has just been launched by the new Environment Agency Chairman Lord Chris Smith.
Tue, 12 Aug 2008:
Have a go at canoeing: The opening of a new slipway at Surfleet on the River Glen is being celebrated with an opportunity to try free canoe taster sessions being run by a British Canoe Union (BCU) coach.
Tue, 12 Aug 2008:
New Hope for Threatened Thurrock Marshes: Royal Mail has confirmed to Buglife that it has formally abandoned plans to build on West Thurrock Marshes the fantastic haven for endangered bugs near the Thames crossing at Dartford. This follows Buglife's high profile campaign to 'Stop them stamping out our wildlife' earlier this year when Buglife produced their own versions of invertebrate-themed stamps, and asked the public to write to Royal Mail to ask them not to build on the site.
Tue, 12 Aug 2008:
Good and bad news for world's whales: Some large whale species, including the humpback, are now less threatened with extinction, according to the cetacean update of the 2008 IUCN Red List. Most small coastal and freshwater cetaceans, however, are moving closer to extinction. River dolphins are among the most threatened cetaceans.
Mon, 11 Aug 2008:
How mating fish throw rivals off the scent: Humans aren't the only devious creatures when it comes to sexual behaviour. There's a fascinating experiment reported in the latest issue of Current Biology. When male fish are put together in a tank, they pretend to be attracted to less appealing females to distract their rivals.
Mon, 11 Aug 2008:
Natural England calls for water companies to clean up their act as part of pricing review: According to Natural England: "The review of water company prices presents a real opportunity for water companies to deliver environmental improvements to benefit people and wildlife. They need to do more to provide sustainable, high quality water supplies that are more resilient to drought and that safeguard wildlife and the natural environment."
The UK Rivers Network store
If you like books and DVDs on fishing and other river-related topics, you might like to browse through the new UK Rivers Network store. The wide selection includes:
- Books on fishing, rivers, oceans, green issues, conservation, and global warming
- Children's fishing books
- DVDs about fishing, surfing, and other watersports
- Bird feeders and other wildlife products for your garden
Everything else
