News

Essex Wildlife Trust will be running an online event for its River and Coastal Warden volunteers on Wednesday 31st March 2021 11.00-13.00.

The event will look at Essex Wildlife Trust’s River Catchment and Living Seas work that has taken place over the last year, a return to volunteering and new and upcoming surveys for 2021.

Essex Wildlife Trust will be running two training courses this March for volunteers who will be taking part in the Essex Otter Survey.

The 25th Anniversary survey, which had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, aims to re-visit all 256 survey points across Essex and South Suffolk in 2021 to track the recolonisation of otters across Essex. With Otters now found in every major watercourse in the county, 2021 will be the last of the annual Essex Otter surveys, the findings of which will be published in a 25th anniversary report.

The Autumn 2020 edition of the Stour and Colne newsletter is now available to download here.

The newsletter contains updates on water quality, the metaldehyde ban, Countryside Stewardship, local Environment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming information, the Farming Rules for Water, ammonia emissions and wildlife connectivity.

The Riverfly Partnership's latest newsletter for Winter/Spring 2020 is now available to download here.

Updates include the upcoming Riverfly Partnership Conference, Riverfly monitor of the year, trigger protocol updates, Pomphorhynchus research project report, the Riverfly photography competition, website and database announcement and the Challenges and Choices consultation.

The Catchment Based Approach (CaBa) has published its third annual report which summaries the key outcomes of the work undertaken by its 106 river catchment partnerships nationwide.

ZSL are looking for volunteers to help survey outfalls along the River Roding during March 2020.

As a volunteer you will be helping to conduct ‘Outfall Safaris’ which involves surveying stretches of river to map and record the impact of outfalls (drains).

The Chelmer and Blackwater Catchment Partnership’s December 2019 newsletter is now available to download here.

The newsletter includes updates on water quality, plans for a new Chelmer and Blackwater catchment website, the Environment Agency’s Challenges and Choices Consultation and upcoming events.

Essex Wildlife Trust will be running a wildlife recording course at its headquarters on Thursday 26th March 2020.

Run by Dr Lorna Shaw the course offers a general introduction to the importance of recording and the use of species records in conservation, including information needed to record species, submitting records and how those records are used.

Essex Wildlife Trust will be running a talk on marine species in Essex at Thurrock Thameside Nature Park on Saturday 25th January 2020.

Rachel Langley, Essex Wildlife Trust’s Living Seas Coordinator, will be introducing the Essex coast and some of the species that call it home, as part of Poly the Plastic Seal’s tour around Essex in 2020.

The Environment Agency has published a summary of their response to the drought planning guidance consultation which took place in 2019.

The consultation which ran from 9th September to 18th October sought views on changes to the water company drought plan guidelines, which are updated every five years.