River Naturalness Survey Training Day

Discovering Priority Habitats - would you like to help protect and restore our freshwater habitats?

Do you want to learn a new skill and contribute to the conservation of rivers, streams and small waterbodies in the Stepping Stones Project Area?

Then sign up as a River Naturalness Survey Volunteer, join our free training event and follow-up work in February 2024 and beyond.

The training day will comprise a mixture of indoor and outdoor work, with a practical session to carry out our own freshwater naturalness assessment on a section of the River Onny near Linley, with thanks to the Linley Estate for access permission.

If you would like to get involved in this important work within the local area, become a freshwater naturalness surveyor and attend our free training day, please get in touch with Dan Gordon-Lee:
Telephone: 07472 877108 Email: dan@dgl-enviro.com.

Following the training day, there will be a series of 2-3 mentored follow-up days in Spring 2024. Dan and volunteers will go out together and carry out naturalness assessments on local watercourses using the survey methodology, and input the results onto the national database.

The Priority Habitats Project aims to train people as citizen scientists to carry out naturalness
assessments on smaller waterbodies. The technique is suitable for total beginners and experts alike,
and no previous experience in freshwater survey is necessary. Collected data will guide and inform
Natural England and others to identify and prioritise areas for protection and restoration.