2.1: Habitat decline in rivers - understanding and reversing it with innovative techniques
Rambling About RiversShow Notes
To start this series of Rambling about Rivers, we’re tackling river habitat decline: what’s driving it, how it’s impacting our rivers, and most importantly, what’s being done to reverse the damage. From degraded peatlands and invasive species to the straightening and deepening of river channels, we explore the historic and ongoing pressures on our waterways. You’ll hear from: Freya Connolly of the Buffer+ project in Ireland, who’s championing innovative paludiculture farming on revitalised peatland. Pete King from Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust, who explains how “re-wiggling” a chalk stream created thriving wetland habitat and reconnected the local community to their river. Matt Duffy from Don Catchment Rivers Trust, who shares the incredible story of how salmon returned to Sheffield’s River Don for the first time in over 150 years, thanks to decades of barrier removal and river restoration. Find out more and get involved: Don Catchment Rivers Trust’s Wilder Salmon Pastures Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust’s Cockshut Restoration Project Find your local Rivers Trust Sign up to our newsletter Follow us on social media @theriverstrust. Hosted and edited by Emma Brisdion and Matthew Woodard, mixed by Mark Skinner.
More from Rambling About Rivers
We sat down with Manchán Magan, effervescent broadcaster, writer, and All-Ireland ambassador for The Rivers Trust, in April 2025. We were devastated later in the year to hear that he'd lost a long battle with cancer, and our waterways lost a true friend. His insights and unique storytelling continue to inspire us. To honour his legacy and his enthusiasm for supporting The Rivers Trust, we're closing out this series of Rambling About Rivers with this conversation. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Rivers are essential to life, but our understanding of river health and issues is fragmented. Why are there such huge gaps in freshwater monitoring, what opportunities or issues are being missed as a result, and how can citizen science change the game? This week we join Michelle Walker, Technical Director and citizen science expert at The Rivers Trust, to survey her local tributary for riverflies - vital indicators of river health. To learn more about how volunteer-gathered data played an essential role in cleaning up over 5 million wet wipes from the Thames' foreshore, we chat to Felicity Rhodes, Thames Programme Manager at Thames 21.
We’re chatting with cut flower farmer, and Co-Director of UK Youth for nature, Roisin Taylor, who works tirelessly to engage young people in the UK in climate and nature action, and provide opportunities for them to build skills and be a key part of campaigns seeking to protect and improve our green and blue spaces – including our rivers. She’s also intimately connected to the health of our rivers as a nature-friendly flower farmer, and has been a strong advocate for our Making Space For Water Campaign,
How are toxic chemicals getting into our rivers, and what impacts are these having on river life? Is the UK's poor chemical regulation policy making us 'the dirty man of Europe' again? And what roles do nature-based solutions and changing our habits at home have in protecting our freshwater? This week we speak to Dr Rob Collins, Director of Science and Policy at The Rivers Trust, and Dr Bella Davies, CEO of South East Rivers Trust, for a deep dive on chemical pollution in rivers. Find out more and get involved: Read more about chemical pollution in our rivers in the State of Our Rivers Report. See what else South East Rivers Trust is doing to restore and protect rivers in the South East of England.
In this episode we're logging off, to, well, log on? It'll make sense when you listen to our conversation with the brilliant Alastair Humphreys. He's an adventurer, writer, champion for connecting with and cleaning up the great outdoors, and an ambassador for The Rivers Trust. Find out more and get involved: Find your local Rivers Trust Sign up to our newsletter Visit www.theriverstrust.org for more Hear more from Alastair on his Instagram or in his newsletter Explore the River Runner map