Every year our Rivers & People volunteers take part in the PlasticBlitz scheme run by Thames21. This is a 2 week period where we itemise exactly what types of litter and any prevalent brands that we are finding in our rivers and their banks in Lewisham.
Continuing on from last month, we spent the first couple of weeks in July taking part in the 3 Rivers Clean Up. After 3 weeks of being in river we removed over 5000 Himalayan balsam plants from the River Quaggy and River Ravensbourne.
One fantastic sighting when we were downstream of Manor Park was a large European Eel feeding amongst the gravel riverbed. Can you spot it in the photo below?
Whilst in Manor Park it was also wonderful to look at the bug hotels that the 12th North Lewisham Scout Group have been looking after.
Summer is when we start tackling some of our invasive species in the river and on the banks, which is both great for the health of the rivers and great at keeping you fit!
Why not join our Tuesday volunteer sessions? The volunteer session programme has now been released for July to September 2023. Check out the programme HERE. If you would like to get involved in volunteering on Lewisham’s rivers please read through the the River Volunteering web page, and if you have any questions or queries please get in touch with Emily.
2023 dates for the 3RiversCleanUp is 17th June – 15th July
The 3RiversCleanUp is an annual, intensive series of volunteering events that aims to improve and maintain the Rivers Pool, Quaggy and Ravensbourne that flow through Lewisham, Greenwich and Bromley. The events are organised by a unique partnership between the Environment Agency, environmental groups and local authorities.
The first 3RiversCleanUp took place in 2008 with the main aim to control the growth of Himalayan Balsam along the rivers. Himalayan Balsam is an invasive non-native plant that spreads quickly, clogging up river banks and reducing biodiversity. It shades and crowds native species and causes riverbank erosion, leading to an increase in the risk of flooding.
Volunteers are still needed to help maintain these valuable local spaces for people and wildlife.
Read more about the 3RiversCleanUp on the event’s website at https://3riverscleanup.co.uk/ and keep an eye out for more details!
Our first 3 Rivers Clean Up planning session will be taking place later this week. We hope that by the end o it we will have confirmed the dates for this year’s festival. We hope that will be able to overlap with London Rivers Week. This will be the 10th year that we have been running this project so look our for some fun anniversary events and celebrations.
The 3RiversCleanUp is a three-week long intensive annual volunteer campaign to improve the rivers Ravensbourne, Pool and Quaggy in South East London.
Take your family, your friends or just yourself on an urban wilderness adventure this summer and discover the rivers and the nature they support. Join others in removing harmful rubbish and invasive plant species so as to improve the habitats for both flowers and animals. Learn about nature, about the quality of water and why it’s important and also join in with other associated events such as wildlife habitat management, pond dipping and nature walks, most of which will be suitable for all ages. All events are FREE.
If you would like to get involved have a look at the events calendar over the coming months to find out details of event locations and contact details of the event organisers. Events will start to be populated once dates have been finalised. If you would like a bespoke event for your company, please free to contact us and we will do our best to arrange something.
Events are free but some require pre-booking. If there is heavy rain an event may be cancelled at short notice due to the risk of flash flooding. Please check with the event organiser if the weather is bad.
The April-June 2017 RBSM programme is now available! There are plenty of ways to get involved. Please note that this programme includes sessions for 3 Rivers Clean Up and that booking is essential for these events. they are great fun in the sun though – so check them out!
Rivers and People 