The “Citizen Science” movement has expanded significantly in the past few years in Wales. People concerned with the state of their local streams have been eager to get involved in river restoration and protection, anxious to do what they can to help resolve issues of water quality and biodiversity loss.
As a result, citizen science groups have been emerging across Wales. Their volunteer members undertake various activities from water sampling, litter clearance and issue reporting.
The regional Welsh river trusts all have their own citizen science or other volunteer initiatives. If you would like to help and to join them the links to the various trusts are below. Often, no prior experience is needed and they will provide the training, equipment and guidance.
Other ways to get involved….
Spotting and Reporting River Pollution.
Do you regularly walk along your local river? Can you spot pollution? We have a simple guide for spotting pollution and what to do.
The Great River Watch
In September 2023 a new app will be launched across the UK which will allow anyone to report anything they come across when walking next to a river. See here for more information.
The Regional Trusts’ Citizen Science Schemes:
North Wales Rivers Trust
NWRT empower individuals to become ambassadors for their local rivers, working together to protect and restore these precious natural resources.
West Wales Rivers Trust
WWRT run their successful “Adopt a Tributary” scheme, which help people protect a section of their local river and improvement it for wildlife.
Wye & Usk Foundation
The Foundation are currently looking for citizen scientists for their Castco Project on the river Usk. More information is provided by the Wye Catchment Partnership.
Severn Rivers Trust
SRT are running their own CASTCO project. They are looking for volunteers for that and a range of other activities, including invasive species removal.
Welsh Dee Trust
WDT’s citizen science initiatives range from pollution monitoring and microplastic sampling to helping us identify invertebrates such as riverflies.