It was great to re-connect with ITV Emmerdale's 'Green Team' for a clean up of Bilton Beck in Harrogate. The Green Team includes crew members from wardrobe, costume, makeup, pre-production, location and sound and aims to help team members learn more about issues affecting the natural environment of Yorkshire, in addition to making a hands on difference. And, despite looking relatively clean, Bilton Beck was concealing myriad rusty items and and plastics in its depths!
Another corporate volunteering event saw us undertake some Himalayan Balsam 'bashing' with a team from Hill Cross Furniture on the River Burn catchment on the Swinton Estate. Hill Cross founder Richard Barker said: “Our very first client 25 years ago was Swinton Park so it feels apt that we’ve returned to the estate for our first carbon-offsetting team away-day."
You can read our blog about the day here.
To find out more about corporate volunteering for your organisation click on the button below:
Photo: Finding a tyre in Bilton Beck!

"Large reservoirs may well be part of the solution for the long term, but we need action now on how we use the water we have and how we manage rainwater as it falls.
Step one: manage the rain where it falls - hold the water in the landscape by improving soil health and restoring our river corridors and providing green spaces in towns so the water fills our underground reservoirs.
Step two:  reduce demand – we are one of the most water thirsty nations in Europe consuming 150 litres per person per day compared to Denmark’s 98 litres. We can achieve this with water efficient homes, grey and rainwater reuse – we don’t need drinking standard water to wash our cars, flush our loos, wash our dogs or water the garden. 
Step three: our food supply is even thirstier than we are; roughly 70% of all freshwater abstraction goes to agriculture. We would like to see smaller on-farm reservoirs to store rainwater, which can be built quicker, serve other functions, and have less of an impact on the atmosphere and the environment.
The Government must tackle the threat of water scarcity holistically alongside flooding and water quality."

Mark L loyd, Chief Executive
The Rivers Trust

Emma Stallworthy, Project Officer for Natural England, talks about her role in Ousewem , the innovative project working across the Swale, Ure, Nidd and Ouse catchments aiming to: support farmers and landowners implement solutions that protect Yorkshire communities from flooding; strengthen engagement with downstream communities; showcase NFM’s (Natural Flood Management) real-world benefits and help policymakers and funders recognise it’s long-term value for flood resilience.
NFM is an approach that works alongside natural processes to reduce flood risk, using techniques like tree planting, wetland creation and river re-meandering to slow the flow of water through the landscape. It can also involve installing ‘leaky dams’ - carefully placed woody material that mimics natural debris in river channels. These structures help slow down high flows, provide habitats for wildlife and allow fish to move freely. 
Read Emma's blog via the button below:
Photo: logs secured in place across a stream as a 'leaky dam' at Smaden Head, near Pateley Bridge as part of the Ousewem project.

There are concerns from NGOs including The Rivers Trust that the Government's proposed planning reforms in the draft Planning and Infrastructure Bill will eradicate vital protections for nature.
 The Bill seeks to make the process easier for developers to invest in nature recovery to compensate for the damage they cause with their development, but The Rivers Trust thinks it will make it too easy for developers to wriggle out of their responsibilities. It has therefore written to Ministers asking for substantive changes so it can be confident that the Bill delivers for nature. Read The Rivers Trust full list of asks via the button below. There is also a further button with a handy tool to help you contact your own MP to raise your concerns:

Want to learn a new river survey technique: ' Mudspotter ' (17 June and 1 July) - a way of identifying pressures that result in excessive fine silt inputs into our rivers, degrading river habitats? Or, take part in some Balsam Bashing in the Swale (10 June) or Wharfe (24 June) catchments later this month? If you are interested in volunteering please email us via the button below: