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Talks update

Hi everyone

A quick update on a couple of talks this week.

Next Chalk Aquifer Alliance Talk - Licensed to Spill
The next in the CAA’s series of talks is this Wednesday evening, focusing this week on an examination of power and accountability in the water industry from a seasoned river campaigner.

It’s topicality and suggestions as to how we can make a difference make this a not to be missed evening with particular relevance for us as we look to investigate water quality further in the catchment.

Licensed to Spill:
Weaponising data in the fight for our rivers - Geoff Tombs
May 19 @ 19:00 – 20:00
A Chalk Aquifer Alliance event, hosted by Bury Water Meadows Group
This session will offer guidance on obtaining discharge permits from the public register and associated information through Environmental Information Requests. It will give suggestions as to how this information might be used in the campaign to clean up the UK’s rivers.


Born just after the war in Witney only 200 metres from the river Windrush, Geoff Tombs spent most of his early childhood in or by the river. In his teens he was sent to boarding school at Thame where he came to know the river Thame extensively. A brief sojourn to London in the late 60’s helped him realise he was a country boy at heart so moved back to North Oxfordshire (close to the river Cherwell) and within three years back to Witney. For most of his working life he has been involved in publishing and printing. He was a director at Oxford University Press for 19 years before taking early retirement.
Geoff has always been passionate about nature and the environment and has lived long enough to witness the dramatic deterioration in river quality over those years but only within the last two years has he found a meaningful cause to focus on.
Free, all welcome. Registerhere in advance and joining instructions will be sent to you.

Friends of the River Cam Talk - Tuesday 18th May

Friends of the River Cam invite you to hear Paul Powlesland, a barrister who campaigns for the legal recognition of the rights of nature. He founded Lawyers for Nature under the banner: ‘representing the natural world and all who are seeking to defend it’. Lawyers for Nature gives legal advice, proposes legislation, and provides free legal representation for environmental activists. He managed to stop the illegal arrests of activists in Sheffield standing under trees to protect them and those previously arrested received compensation. He has a particular love for rivers. He set up friends of the River Roding in Barking to revive a stretch of the river- bank and restore access for the local community. He has stated the need for urgent action to defend the natural world: ‘We stand at the most crucial juncture in the history of humanity. It’s a really weird time since we are at the “make-or-break” of our civilisation... No part of our civilisation will remain untouched if it collapses; not even our legal system and yet everyone is blithely carrying on as if this issue is not real.’

His talk will be followed by discussion in groups before a final plenary.

Further information and registration for the talk here

Petition for Better Water Quality

As I’ve previously highlighted this petition provides an opportunity for rivers and their quality to remain in the political spotlight

The petition now stands at over 30,000 which is sufficient to require a government response. To date that is outstanding, though the government petition site has been updated to reference the current work of the Environmental Audit Committee, which you can read at the base of the petitions page.

If 100,000 signatures are gathered, a parliamentary debate is typically scheduled. If you can lend your support (if you haven’t already!) then please consider it.

New Riverfly Monitors and info on other volunteer roles
Thank-you to all the volunteers who have stepped up to help with our rivers. Last week, five new Friends of the Rib & Quin volunteers underwent riverfly monitor training, both on Zoom and in the Mimram at Welwyn. They will shortly be equipped with monitoring equipment and establishing monitoring points up and down the rivers, guided by local Riverfly Co-ordinator Simon Stebbings. I understand sites for Buntingford have already been identified and that monitoring has commenced!

We are also grateful to those who have volunteered as River Wardens and will be ‘adopting’ various points and stretches along the rivers. At the earliest opportunity we will have an online meeting to explain the role, though if you will bare with me a little longer there are a couple of details I want to check with colleagues over on the River Ver. Below is a little further information on these and the other roles and ways supporters can help us, so if you think you could help with any of the following, please let us know via email here.

• Wildlife Recorder - If you are a smartphone user, install the iNaturalist app from Apple App Store or Google Play and start recording what you find. It’s as simple as that. The app and community can help you with identifications and sightings are automatically included in our project if they are records from our catchment.
  

• Riverfly Monitor - We can arrange full training in this scheme when it is available via The Riverfly Partnership, which will return as COVID restrictions ease. Our ambition is to have a string of monitors along our rivers, so if this is something that interests you, let us know and we will keep you informed.
  

• River Warden - If there is a stretch of river that you visit regularly through the week and are able to keep an eye on, we’d love to hear from you. We are currently working with other river groups to develop a specification and list of simple activities involved in this role, so let us know if you have a stretch in mind and we will be in touch shortly.
  

• Riverwork gang - Balsam bashing this summer is top of the priority list with two sites already identified. We also hope to include winter and project specific work on bank-side improvements in the future.

• Educational Link - We are keen to have strong and close relationships with our local schools and colleges and develop materials that link with the curriculum at various age points. We are hoping there are local teachers or educational specialists who could assist us and help formulate this programme.
  

• Administrators and Researchers - As our work develops it will need more organisation and undoubtedly the more we know about our catchment the better we will be able to represent it. If you could help with some of the research and admin, do let us know.

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Friends of the Rib & Quin Fundraising
There are a couple of ways that supporters can help raise funds for the group currently.

FORQ are participants in the East Herts District Council Lottery, with 50% of all ticket sales we generate coming to the group - further details can be found here.

We also have some rather fetching FORQ T shirts, with a couple of additional designs and colours added for 2021. Do take a look and see if anything takes your fancy. All items are ethically sourced and printed on the Isle of Wight.

Thanks as always for your support.
Best wishes

Mark