We’re writing to invite you to sign up for training for an exciting new volunteering opportunity – the Ravensbourne River Monitoring Initiative (RMI).
Are you a Citizen Scientist in the making, fascinated by the wriggly creatures that anchor the ecology of a healthy river? Would you like to learn and apply simple sampling techniques to monitor these invertebrates? Are you prepared to commit to doing this regularly, to provide a continuous picture?
Our local rivers – sometimes invisible or channelled into concrete, elsewhere happily restored – form the Ravensbourne Catchment. The Ravensbourne, Quaggy and Pool rivers capture nature’s water and move it to the sea via the Thames at Deptford.
RMI is a proven method of checking on our rivers, already used elsewhere in London and the UK. We are organising an RMI training day in southeast London on Saturday 21st May 2016. It will be run by Joe Pecorelli of the Zoological Society of London. Volunteers need to be fit enough to stand in or near a river regularly and be prepared to work in a small team.
We’ve both had this training and are keen to start up an RMI scheme on the Ravensbourne Catchment. RMI can flag up pollution, reveal ecological variety, and raise public awareness around rivers. And it’s welly good fun!
We are happy to answer any questions and to speak informally to local groups. Please see the attached flyer for details of the training day.
Rivers and People 