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Emily M Lewisham Rivers, River Ravensbourne, Volunteer

Volunteer Sessions in November

The Rivers & People volunteers have been all across the borough this month despite the very wet weather. The volunteer team have opened up one of ponds in Chinbrook Meadows, by cutting back some of the overhanging willows and removing the encroaching sedge and grasses. They also got into the River Quaggy to unblock the channel from a fallen tree, the bankside volunteers then used the bras cutting to create a habitat pile further into the woodland.

The team also visited Brookmill Park to do a quick kick sample for the Riverfly Monitoring Partnership. Although it is later in the year it was interesting to find a selection of freshwater invertebrates such as caddisfly larvae, leeches, freshwater hoglouse, mayfly nymphs. After our short sampling session the volunteers worked to clear a section of the overgrown bramble on the bank, so that any park visitors using the pathway can now see the River Ravensbourne. We only clear half the sections in winter to keep some coverage for birds to forage in whilst maintaining a view of the river.

As a pre-festive period treat, you should visit your local blue space and see the wildlife that’s about. Black headed gulls, kingfishers and grey wagtails are common sights in ponds and on the river around the borough. If you do spot anything please do share your sightings with @GlendaleLew as we’d love to know!

Emily M Lewisham Rivers, Rivers, Volunteer

Volunteer Sessions in January

We started 2023 with a sunny session at Cornmill Gardens, where we cut back any branches overhanging the river and clearing all the twigs that had collected on the bank from the recent rains. We don’t remove any of the deadwood from the site, but rather move it further up the bank to create habitat piles that won’t get washed downstream.

Next up we visited the River Quaggy, at Chinbrook Meadows, where we de-silted the secondary channel that feeds into the pond and wetland area. Also that afternoon, our diligent volunteers scraped the leaf litter from the boardwalks to make them easier and safer to walk on.

After a wet December where we couldn’t get easy access to the Ladywell Field backwater channel, we returned to finish the de-silting here. The heavy digging work certainly lent itself to an extra biscuit with our tea afterwards!

Our last session of the month was in the north of the borough at Brookmill Park, where we completed our bank work to allow any pedestrians a sight line down onto the river. As an added bonus we came across a common frog, Rana temporaria, and two common toads, Bufo bufo, which is one of Lewisham’s priority action species.

An excerpt from Lewisham Council’s Biodiversity Action Plan ‘A Natural Renaissance for Lewisham (2021-2026)’

Amphibian species populations are declining at an alarming rate globally and despite its
name and that it is found throughout Britain the Common Toad is not so common anymore. A study in 2016 found a significant decline (68%) of the species in the UK since 1980s with an even steeper decline in South East England (www.froglife.org)

Common Toads breed in ponds but spend most of their lives on land away from water, walking (and not hopping) around at night looking for slugs, snails, spiders and other invertebrates. They spend winter buried under log piles, stones, leaf litter or compost heaps. Adult toads usually migrate back to their birth pond to breed which is becoming
more and more difficult with fences and busy roads blocking their way in urban areas. The disappearance of ponds in gardens and open spaces and two amphibian diseases (Ranavirus and Chytridiomycosis) pose further threats to toads. The Common Toad is protected from trade and sale under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and was identified as a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan in 2007.

References
– Volunteer Conservation Action Data Reveals Large-Scale and Long-Term Negative Population
Trends of a Widespread Amphibian, the Common Toad (Bufo bufo); Petrovan SO, Schmidt BR
(2016) Volunteer Conservation Action Data Reveals Large-Scale and Long-Term Negative
Population Trends of a Widespread Amphibian, the Common Toad (Bufo bufo). PLOS ONE
– https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/schedule/5
– https://www.froglife.org/what-we-do/education/london-t-o-a-d/
– https://www.gardenwildlifehealth.org/

Emily M Thames21

Plasticblitz 2023! Sign up now

Thames21 has once again joined forces with the Environment Agency and Rotary to call on volunteering, community and environmental groups to come forward and sign up to the Plasticblitz 2023 and take part in a mass clean-up of waste from water bodies between Sat 27th May to Sun 11th June 2023.

The Plasticblitz event has grown in numbers year on year, starting as a local trial event before expanding to cover the Thames region, and now as a first for the Plasticblitz, it is extending across the UK! This year we are aiming for the Plasticblitz to be bigger and better than ever, and we would love your support!

Participating groups will also be asked to collect data on the types of plastic pollution they find during their events, allowing us to build an evidence base on the extent to which plastic and other materials are threatening our rivers. This data will feed into the EU wide Preventing Plastic Pollution project. There are both bank-based and boat/canoe/paddle-based methods available, with specific Environment Agency teams tackling assets such as weirs, locks and trash screens.

Please note, as Plasticblitz events are self-led, participating groups must risk assess their own events and be covered by public liability insurance.

Please complete this form to sign up today!

Emily M 3 Rivers Clean Up, Lewisham Rivers, Volunteer

Dates for your Diary!

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!

Emily M Lewisham Rivers, Volunteer

Volunteer Sessions in December

As usual, the Rivers & People volunteers have been busy keeping the rivers in Lewisham in good shape! A day of bramble bashing at the backwater in Ladywell Fields South took the brash line back by about 2 meters, which is great not only for regaining the visibility of the river but also protects the meadow area from any encroaching bramble! All the cut bramble was bundled and used in a brash pile within the nearby woodland.

Bramble Bashing in Ladywell Fields

Further upstream in the River Ravensbourne volunteer Donna cleared all the litter and fallen twigs from the Turning Tree sculpture in the channel, look at transformation below!

Turning Tree sculpture in Ladywell Fields

A river wade and litter pick also took place in the Manor House Gardens stretch of the River Quaggy, although chilly it was a fantastic day to be in the river!

River wade in Manor House Gardens
Emily M Ladywell Fields, River Ravensbourne, Volunteer

Volunteer Sessions in October

A few weeks back our volunteer team held a session clearing brambles and nettles from the bank at the bridge in Cornmill Gardens. Not only will this allow a wider variety of plants to grow in that space but also means that you can see more of the river from the path to the bridge.

Before & After photos of Cornmill Garden

A task that will carry over to November is de-silting and restoring the viewpoint to the backwater in Ladywell Fields (middle field- nr Malyons Road). After 2 hours of digging and clearing vegetation you can now see water once again in the backwater. The volunteer team will return again next week where the channel will be completely opened up and water will flow once again!

Emily M Rivers, Volunteer

#PlasticBlitz

Last month, the Rivers & People volunteers took part in The Thames and Tributaries ‘Plasticblitz’ week. This week of events was organised by Thames21, the Environment Agency and Rotary in the Valley (through their international End Plastic Soup campaign) to collate details on the amount and differing types of plastic pollution groups find across The Thames and it’s tributaries.

The Rivers & People group held a session at Brookmill Park where we cleared 6 bags of rubbish from the Ravensbourne River and it’s banks. A wide variety of litter was collected from plastic bottles to curtains. Our team collected 6 full bags of rubbish over a few hours and covered a stretch of river over 250 metres.

All of the data collected will feed into the EU-wide ‘Preventing Plastic Pollution’ Project.

Find out the overall results of the #PlasticBlitz HERE.