Congratulations River Mel Restoration Group!! - 23/10/2009

The River Mel Restoration Group (RMRG) has won the national ‘Wild Trout Trust & Orvis Conservation Award 2009’! The RMRG joined RiverCare last year to add litter-picking to its existing range of conservation tasks.

Judges praised the group for enhancing the river Mel as a fish habitat by installing ‘soft’ revetments along half a kilometer of river, and for engaging local College Students with the project.

For further information on the RMRG visit: www.rivermel.com

RiverCare wins a Big Tick! - 30/6/2009

RiverCare has received a prestigious award for the work undertaken to engage local communities in protecting and enhancing the river environment.

RiverCare was presented with a Big Tick award in the active communities category by Business in The Community (BiTC) as part of its 2009 ‘Awards for Excellence’ scheme.

The BiTC Awards for Excellence are considered to be the UK’s most influential, independent, and peer assessed corporate responsibility awards.

The awards “recognise and celebrate those companies who have shown innovation, creativity and a sustained commitment to corporate responsibility”.

More than 45 RiverCare groups now exist across the Anglian Water region, with almost 1,000 regular volunteers.

BiTC recognised the following benefits delivered by RiverCare:

- Enhanced community cohesion: RiverCare engages a wide cross-section of local people, including socially excluded groups

- Environmental enhancement: during 2008 a total of almost 15,000 volunteer hours was contributed by RiverCare volunteers, who collected over 8,000 bags worth of litter and 3,000 fly-tipped items

- Anglian Water Staff satisfaction: RiverCare has provided a rewarding means of developing employees’ skills through volunteering and they feel a greater sense of pride in working for Anglian Water

For further information, please visit www.bitc.org.uk.

RiverCare joins forces with the Norfolk Non-native Species Initiative - 17/12/2008

Invasive alien species represent one of the most serious threats to our native wildlife, with rivers and their surrounding areas being particularly at risk. Invasive aquatic plants can clog waterways; out-compete native species; and increase the risk of flooding. One such species, floating pennywort, is currently the focus of a major eradication project along the River Waveney. Other plants, such as Himalayan balsam, grow along the banks of rivers. Himalayan balsam forms stands so dense that native vegetation is shaded out. The plant then dies back in the winter, leaving the banks bare and vulnerable to erosion. Invasive animals are also having significant impacts. The North American signal crayfish is pushing vulnerable populations of the native white-clawed crayfish to the brink of extinction.

To help address the threats posed by invasive plants and animals, the Norfolk Biodiversity Partnership launched a major new initiative in September 2008. The Norfolk Non-native Species Initiative aims to promote the prevention, control and eradication of invasive non-native species in the county.

The Initiative has invited RiverCare to help record the occurrence of six high priority species in Norfolk:

Australian Swamp Stonecrop (Crassula helmsii)
Floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides)
Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)
Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)
Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica)
Parrot’s feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)

Information on the distribution of these species will be used to draft a detailed status report on the distribution and impacts of these species in Norfolk and lead to a 3-5 year action plan outlining the most suitable management approach.

Detailed identification guides for four of these species are currently available from the following web addresses. More will follow.

Japanese Knotweed CLICK HERE
Himalayan Balsam CLICK HERE
Giant Hogweed CLICK HERE
Parrots Feather CLICK HERE

If you are out along a watercourse in Norfolk and see any of the priority species then please note down the location details (including an OS grid reference - if possible) and contact a member of RiverCare staff.

RiverCare groups are already taking practical action on the ground, clearing invasive weeds from priority areas and safeguarding native habitats in the process. Norfolk-based RiverCare groups are also invited to take part in a county-wide ‘Day of Action’ on 5th July 2009. This day aims to bring together voluntary groups across Norfolk to take action against invasive species; we hope the day will lead to valuable habitat improvements and raise the profile of this important issue within the local community.

For more information on the Norfolk Non-native Species Initiative, and how you can help halt the spread of these species, please CLICK HERE

Norfolk Wildlife Trust are also appealing for people in Norfolk to take part in a survey of 5 non-native species (American mink, Giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed and Muntjac deer).

For further details please CLICK HERE

Alien invaders in the UK - 15/10/2008

The BBC is running an excellent series of features and reports on non-native species that are threatening the ecology of the UK - including some of the species that RiverCare groups come accross such as Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and Signal Crayfish.

An alien invasive species is a plant, animal or microorganism that is not native to an area, but has been introduced, either accidentally or deliberately, by humans.

For the BBC features CLICK HERE

A number of RiverCare groups remove Himalayan Balsam from their 'adopted' stretches of river. Our Fakenham group is monitoring and recording the presence of Japanese Knotweed along their stretch.

If you are interested in finding out how you could help with the control of non-native species along your river then please contact us.

Sheringham Loke Group make an exicting discovery! - 2/10/2008

The Sheringham Loke Group made an exciting botanical discovery during a recent clean-up.

At the new "Dew Pond" (a temporal pond re-excavated last year after being filled in over the decades) a member of the group who is a botanist, found a small but significant colony of Mudwort around the fringes of the pond.

Mudwort is a species that was last reported in Norfolk in 1914 - so this was a pretty exceptional discovery! It is an annual plant which is now nationally rare in the UK.

Forthcoming River Mel Restoration Group clean-ups...

The River Mel Restoration Group will be holding two RiverCare litter picks in Melbourn this year - these are on Saturday 27th March 2010 and Saturday 27th November 2010.

For further details about the group pleaseCLICK HERE

Twice-monthly Litter Clean-ups - Cuckoo's Hollow, Peterborough

The Friends of Cuckoo's Hollow in Peterborough carry out litter clean-up events on the second and the last Sunday of every month.

If you are interested in volunteering at one of these litter picks, please email foch@werrington.org.uk for further details.