From the 9th-11th June, BART set up camp at the Bristol harbourside for the Bristol Festival of Nature 2017!
Working to promote the Bristol Avon Waterblitz, we were on a stall with the Earthwatch Institue, the international NGO who are our partners in the Waterblitz campaign.
Our Project Officer Harriet with the team from Earthwatch
We spent the day doing water quality sampling demonstrations, using colour dip tests to measure the nitrate and phosphate concentrations of three water samples from various locations around Bristol. These tests tell us the level of nutrient pollution in our local rivers. Phosphates and nitrates are naturally occurring chemicals in our rivers but can be increased by man-made pollution, which impacts on water quality and degrades the river ecosystem.
Project Officer Claire with a water quality colour dip test
As well as the water quality tests, we got the festival visitors involved in freshwater invertebrate identification. The festival was full of young people, families and children who were amazed at all the different creatures that can be found in their local river! With creatures such as Freshwater Shrimps, Bullhead fish and Mayflies there was plenty for visitors to look at.
Our freshwater invertebrate trays
The festival was a fantastic were to get people engaged in nature, with so many environmental organisations present as well as universities and the BBC. It was great to see everyone working together, promoting the environment with so many creative ideas and activities. Bring on next year! Thanks to Bristol Natural History Consortium for arranging such a great event.
