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 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.

Judith Watling Lewisham Rivers

Lewisham has a new biodiversity action plan!

Local councillors have voted to endorse the plan, the ‘Natural Renaissance’ for Lewisham, which will aim to do the following….

Supporting the installation of more green roofs in Lewisham, which are roofs where vegetation has been planted to boost biodiversity.

Working with landlords and other landowners to help them transform urban areas to provide habitats for local wildlife.

Reconnecting people with rivers and highlighting how safe access to rivers and an improved river corridor can provide a range of health, safety and environmental benefits.

Delivering at least 60 nature conservation volunteer sessions and 30 guided walks per year

Delivering 500 educational events for 8,000 local children every year.

Working with community art groups to enhance urban locations, such as tunnels, with biodiversity inspired art murals.

Providing practical advice to local residents on how they can enhance their private gardens and local areas to boost biodiversity.

To read more, follow this link:

https://lewisham.gov.uk/articles/news/creating-a-greener-lewisham-new-biodiversity-action-plan-endorsed