On Saturday, this year’s Earth Day will be celebrated, which takes place every year on 22nd April, marking the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. To coincide with this, environmental campaign group Planet Patrol is calling on the public to help protect the nation’s rivers as part of a UK-wide citizen science investigation.
Spring Water Watch will run from Friday 21st – Sunday 30th April 2023 and will call on people up and down the country to spend just 15 minutes observing a chosen waterway and completing the survey in Planet Patrol’s app. Questions cover areas from wildlife sightings and signs of pollution to accessibility, helping to provide a valuable snapshot into the overall health of our waterways.
Not a single waterway in England – including rivers, lakes and estuaries – is in good ecological and chemical health. Government funding has fallen from £120 million in 2009 to just £40 million in 2020 and current data shows that water quality testing has reduced in the past decade, from more than 100,000 samples taken in 2012 to just 41,519 in 2021 – that’s 74%.
Planet Patrol Founder, Lizzie Carr MBE, who has also been affected by poor water quality says, “We know the quality of our waterways are rapidly declining and with the recent devastating news that targets to clean up the majority of England’s waterways have been pushed back 36 years, to 2063, there’s never been a more important time for the general public to work together and show why we don’t have time to wait.”
Water Watch, which runs every spring and autumn, will help to fill knowledge gaps with the data collected crucial in helping scientists understand more about what is happening to the nation’s waterways and what measures need to be put in place to help protect them.
How to Get Involved:
Head down to a chosen waterway between Friday 21st – Sunday 30th April 2023. It can be a river, canal, stream or lake – any freshwater environment. Spend up to 15 minutes completing the Spring Water Watch survey in the free Planet Patrol app recording indicators like signs of pollution, wildlife sightings and recent rainfall. For those without access to the app, an online form is available via the Planet Patrol website.
For further information on how to take part in Planet Patrol’s Spring Water Watch, please visit www.planetpatrol.co/water-watch/
About Planet Patrol
Since 2016, more than 35,000 Planet Patrol volunteers have logged over 400,000 pieces of litter across 113 countries worldwide. Planet Patrol exists to protect, preserve and restore nature by addressing the pressing threats of pollution, using people-powered data to create change. The app, which can be found on the App Store and Google Play, amassed over 5.4k downloads in 2021.
In 2021, Planet Patrol conducted 200+ activity based clean-up events that attracted thousands of participants, with an estimated 27,000km of waterways covered.
To get involved visit planetpatrol.co
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