Emily M Rivers, Volunteer

Volunteer Sessions in June

June marks the beginning of the Three Rivers Clean Up, also known as 3RCU, for the London Borough of Lewisham. Rivers & People, Nature’s Gym and various river projects/ user groups combine to make a group effort to remove Himalayan Balsam before it seeds around the banks of the three rivers.

Whilst bashing the Himalayan balsam we also litter pick the channels and take the what3words locations of any other invasive plant species, such as Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed. These plants get treated and tackled by the wider Glendale team, whilst we focus our efforts on the Balsam.

Read more about the 3RCU initiative at https://3riverscleanup.co.uk/

Jess kyle Rivers

The new 3 Rivers Clean Up blog is now live!

Take part in the 3 Rivers Clean Up

The first 3RCU 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.

Now in its ninth year the 3RCU has largely brought the Himalayan Balsam under control.  This success has given partners more time to focus on other activities to restore rivers to attract wildlife. It has also allowed volunteers the chance to discover, learn about and enjoy their rivers, and to take pride and ownership of them.

The project now has a new blog with lots of information about the project and how you can get involved.  We would love to see you at one of our events, so keep an eye out of the next few weeks for more details about exact dates and locations.

In the meantime there are a number of ways in which you can contact the 3 Rivers Clean Up partnership.  For individual organisations involved please see the Partners Page.  Alternatively you can email the organising team, visit their Facebook page or even send them a tweet.