Kings College London have created a guide that provides comprehensive, practical advice on how to use legal tools to protect rivers. It is called ‘Rights of Nature Toolkit: How to protect Rivers in England and Wales’.
The guide includes a very useful summary of relevant existing UK legislation, details of regulatory bodies and statutory liabilities, how to gather information and a (fictional) case study. Good to see WTT’s Trout in the Town Urban River Toolkit mentioned as one of the resources too.
In very simple terms, we advise anyone who sees pollution in their river to report it as an incident to the Environment Agency in England, SEPA in Scotland and NIEA in Northern Ireland on 0800 80 70 60. The number for Wales (NRW) is 0300 065 3000. Take photos, ask for an incident number and ask for updates. Even if no action is taken at the time, getting the incident ‘in the system’ will help for any future action, legal or otherwise.
We would also advise all angling clubs to join Fish Legal.
This article from our journal, Salmo Trutta, was written back in 2017 but is still relevant.
