Page 107 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #11

OURWILD WORLD

WORKING FOR NATURE

FrancesDismore

River and waterways conservation, London

All over the

world, devoted
individuals are

doing their bit by

volunteering
to be involved

with wildlife.
Jill Shearer

meets the leader
of a waterways

clean-up group in

Tottenham,
north London.

Frances Dismore’s
(centre) group has
collected 545 bags of
S Anyone, rubbish from north
London waterways.
anywhere
can improve
U rban north London is not known for its Corporation Epping How you
thriving wildlife populations or flourishing ecosystem. the quality Forest,” Frances says. can help...
Decades-old problems – fly tipping, road runoff, of their local An effectively
industrial pollutants, sewage leaking from inadequate functioning ecosystem Three projects you
plumbing – have contaminated large sections of green space T with a broad diversity can get involved in:
waterway in this densely populated area. In addition, of flora and fauna is the Canal and River Trust
widespread establishment of colonies of floating ultimate aim. “If you Help with litter picking,
pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides – a rapidly don’t have an abundance wildlife surveys,repairs
growing, densely matted aquatic plant now listed and diversity of plants and insects at the bottom of the and painting along
on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act’s food chain you will have no water voles, no fish, no 3,200km of waterways
restrictions on planting) has reduced water oxygen kingfishers or otters,” Frances observes. in England andWales.
to critical levels, threatening fish, amphibians and The Coalition is one of a number of local groups canalrivertrust.org.uk
invertebrates and the creatures that feed on them. supported by Thames21, a charity established to
It could be all too easy to see the problems as conserve and improve London’s waterways, and Inland Waterways
overwhelming, but a motivated community of to educate and empower local communities to get Association
volunteers is beginning to make a difference. Since involved in conservation and river ecology. There Coordinates restoration
setting up the Stonebridge Lock Coalition in 2017, are now 22 such ‘badged groups’ involved in local and funding for local
north Londoner Frances Dismore has led 18 clean-up projects along the capital’s waterways. projects plus workshops
events, with some 218 volunteers contributing 642 The rewards – a kingfisher sighting, a previously and training courses.
work hours. Together they’ve collected 580 bags of unrecorded water-vole population, glimpses of barn waterways.org.uk
rubbish plus a veritable mountain of fly-tipped waste owls, weasels and evidence of the presence of otters –
including two mopeds, five mattresses, 17 lorry tyres make the hard work worthwhile. “There is nothing Water of Leith
and two 55-inch flat-screen TVs from the River Lee extraordinary about our group,” Frances adds. Conservation Trust
Diversion, Lee Navigation and Pymmes Brook. “Anyone, anywhere can protect and increase the Join wildlife surveys
And the group doesn’t just remove rubbish. “We biodiversity of their local green space.” and clean-ups along
have undertaken botanical and mammal surveys, 19km of Edinburgh’s
Charles Best installed nesting and bat boxes, and converted a and protect London’s waterways at thames21.org.uk main river between
one-tonne bag of fly-tipped rubble into a hibernaculum
FIND OUT MORE Learn how you can help clean up
Balerno and Leith.
using native tree logs donated by City of London
waterofleith.org.uk
November 2018 BBC Wildlife 107