The Water of Leith Conservation Trust held its first stakeholder conference yesterday. I was delighted to get one of the places reserved for volunteers of the trust (I help to look after the Dells area of the river, recording wildlife and picking litter once a week; I sometimes take part in conservation days and I tweet for the Trust.) Speakers at the conference included representatives from the trust and from Scottish Natural Heritage; City of Edinburgh Council Rangers Service; Scottish Environmental Protection Agency; The Wildlife Crimes Unit of Lothian and Borders Police and the Water of Leith Honorary Bailiffs. Topics covered included control of invasive plant species; the Flood Prevention Plans for the river; litter and dog fouling; wildlife and responsible use of the river and the walkway.
There was time in the packed programme to chat to people, which was great. It was really heartening to see so many people who are committed to the future of the river and there was a very positive atmosphere to the gathering and a lot of excitement about the recent sightings of an otter with a cub on the river! I learned quite a lot too, particularly about fishing on the river!
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What a treasure and great organization and results. I am though a bit surprised at how much trash and junk seems to get tossed in (and then fished out during cleanups). Or is that just highlighted and not really very prevalent?
ReplyDeleteRabbits' Guy - thanks, its an urban river so there's a lot of junk gets thrown in, particularly in the most downstream (and most urban) stretches. I collect at least one large bag full of trash every week and there are I think 50 large scale clean ups of the river every year
ReplyDeleteGood grief! that's almost a major clean up a week. Sound's like your river would be a complete disaster area if you didn't do it.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy - yes the build up would be pretty bad! It's 22 miles long the river, and the rubbish is worst in the ten miles or so that pass through Edinburgh, specially in the Leith and Bonnington areas. A lot of rubbish gets blown into the river from round about rather than being dumped into the river. Hmm, this may be worth a separate blog post at some point...
ReplyDeleteWOW! Otters in your area too?! Thats fantsatic especially the fact that they are breeding as well, you must be soooo chuffed! Shows that your hard work is paying off :-D
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