Water quality in the UK remained a prominent topic over the Easter break, with a particular emphasis on the urgent need for water companies to further invest in sewage infrastructure to address the concerning issue of sewage spills. At Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART), we emphasise the importance of holding water companies accountable for their actions, along with other industries that cause pollution, alongside the need for tighter regulation and enforcement.
A primary objective at BART is to foster connections between communities and their local rivers, empowering individuals to appreciate, safeguard, and enhance their green and blue spaces. Central to achieving this goal are our dedicated volunteers, whose contributions extend far beyond traditional river clean-ups and vegetation management tasks – to other vital actions for improving river health including conducting research, monitoring, and acting as citizen scientists.
Citizen science involves the public in scientific endeavours to generate reliable data and information that can inform decision-making processes to improve the health of our rivers. It is a cornerstone of our work at BART and is widely employed in conservation and environmental projects. Citizen science presents an excellent opportunity to educate and engage individuals on local issues, drive positive change, and expand the reach and effectiveness of projects in a cost-effective manner. Moreover, citizen scientists aid us in filling in the gaps where data is missing, which supports our decision making and advocating for necessary action.
People of all ages who are willing to dedicate their time to this cause can become citizen scientists. Citizen science activities encompass a wide range of tasks, including water sampling, wildlife photography, litter collection and aquatic invertebrate monitoring. We offer a variety of free training courses to volunteers interested in becoming citizen scientists in our projects. Our training programs cover areas such as water invertebrate monitoring, water sampling, plastic pollution data collection, river barrier assessment, and invasive weed monitoring.
Examples of BART’s citizen science programmes include: River Detectives, Rverfly monitoring, Water Guardians, and our annual RiverBlitz event in July. Further details of these programmes and ways to get involved can be found here.
We regularly update our events and training calendar, so if you’re eager to get involved, learn more about the environment, give back to your community and to make a positive impact, keep an eye on our social media channels and website for upcoming opportunities.
