Want to learn a new skill, meet new people, stop pollution and get to know your local river (and its smaller inhabitants)?  If so, then Riverfly Monitoring could be for you!  Although the Navigation is not suitable for this sort of monitoring, the backwaters, tributaries and the Upper Stort are.  We're currently trying to establish a network of volunteer invertebrate monitors on the Stort.  Come and help us out!

Core project group

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT)

The leading voice for wildlife conservation in Hertfordshire. HMWT manage 44 nature reserves, from beautiful woodlands and wetlands to rare patches of heath and orchard. However, increasingly they are looking beyond their nature reserves to the wider landscape – their vision is of a Living Landscape, an environment rich in wildlife for everyone to enjoy. It is this vision which prompted them to apply to be ‘Catchment Hosts’ for the Stort Catchment Management Plan.

The Environment Agency (EA)

A public body responsible to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Their principal aims are to protect and improve the environment.  The EA help deliver the environmental priorities of central government and are playing a crucial role in supporting the development and implementation of the Catchment Management Plan.

Partners

Affinity Water

Canals and Rivers Trust

Countryside Management Service

The Countryside Management Service works with communities in Hertfordshire to help them care for and enjoy the environment.  The Countryside Management Service (CMS) is hosted by Hertfordshire County Council and supported by most of Hertfordshire's District and Borough Councils.
CMS:

• Encourages people to get involved in looking after their local countryside or park by offering a range of voluntary opportunities, from practical conservation to leading Health Walks.
• Provides advice to landowners or managers helping them to look after their land with wildlife in mind. CMS helps a range of people from individual land owners to community groups secure funding for landscape improvement and conservation work.
• Promotes outdoor recreation by organising events such as guided walks, and working with groups to develop walk and cycle routes that link towns and villages to their surrounding countryside.

Groundwork Hertfordshire

Lee Valley Regional Park

Local landowners

Stort Waterways Partnership

The Water Framework Directive is a piece of European legislation that states that all UK waterbodies (rivers, lakes, seas) must be in ‘good ecological status’ by 2027.