Britain’s rivers are neglected, polluted and abused. In partnership with The i, New Scientist’s new campaign reveals what’s wrong and how to restore them
environment
| | leader
February 15, 2023
Roy Waller/Alamy
Rivers are the lifeline of human civilization. Our metropolitan areas are built on them and have been since the first cities (probably) were built along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what was then Mesopotamia. they are still needed. Life is as dependent on water as it was then.
But in the crowded, urbanized world we live in, their beauty and resilience are also increasingly appreciated, attracting walkers, kayakers and wild swimmers. Few things elevate the human mind more than a beautiful river, whether it is a flowing river or a river tumbling down silvery rocks, and such exaltation has a considerable effect on our mental and physical health. is understood. The UK is one of the few countries in the world that quantifies the beneficial impact of being around fresh water. The UK saves the country’s health services £870m a year.
So we need rivers, we love them, but we ignore them. Prevent wildlife such as eels from moving upstream. We turn them into canals of concrete that can hardly grow. We see trash piled up on river shores, caught on every fallen branch, poisoning and sometimes literally strangling water-dwelling creatures. I’m throwing it away in Pesticides and agricultural wastes leach from the land. Though unremarkable, the old mine is impregnated with poison.
In some places, so much water is extracted either from the rivers themselves or from the groundwater reservoirs from which they spring that they simply disappear. reported what happened to the glorious Colorado River, which no longer reaches the sea.
UK river conditions
In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature released a report on the state of rivers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It concluded that “the true natural environment no longer exists, free from direct and indirect human modification.” Since then, things have not improved. Rivers in England, Wales or Northern Ireland are not considered to have high ecological health, with only 14% of England’s rivers certified as good. None of the rivers in these three countries are considered good when chemical pollution is taken into account. not one.
The UK has laws to protect rivers, but it seems to make little difference.
Why is this more important than similar corruption and looting of several patches of nearby land? Why focus on rivers?
Rivers and other wetlands cover a small portion of the Earth’s surface, but according to the United Nations, they are home to 40% of all plant and animal species. A tenth of the UK’s biodiversity depends on them. Their importance to our biosphere is immense. So how we treat our waterways has a huge impact on our future, well beyond the poisoning of swimmers forced to pass through sewage and the unsightly ‘wet-wipe beaches’. .
Save Britain’s Rivers Campaign
new scientist We haven’t committed to the campaign for decades, but within the next year we will be fighting to save Britain’s rivers. should set achievable goals. That’s why I decided to start in the UK. The UK is a relatively small and rich group of islands, and there is no excuse for how dirty its rivers are. that is. Still, whether the articles we publish cover the science of why rivers matter, or how to find out if your local streams and rivers are healthy, the world’s We take care every step of the way to make sure it’s interesting to the audience inside.
We are embarking on this campaign with a sister publication, Save Britain’s Rivers. IEdited by Oliver Duff, the newspaper has an impressive reach in the UK and shares a passion for environmental issues.
Over the next year IHere’s a scientific deep dive into what’s happening in Britain’s rivers, featuring many hard-hitting news stories, movies, podcasts and events on the subject. It also celebrates the glory of the rivers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and invites readers to tell stories of their local waterways. We also seek out the world’s most well-maintained rivers and investigate why and how.
So what do you want to achieve next year? Three things.
First, we want to know what is really happening in UK rivers and why.
Second, we want to build on the great work already done by so many scientists and activists like Feargal Sharkey to inform the public about the plight of Britain’s rivers. I want more people to understand what is going on.
Third, we want to create a practical, non-political manifesto about rivers. I hope this manifesto will be picked up and adopted by political parties interested in saving our rivers.
Britain can better manage its rivers. much better Let’s make it happen together.
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