Ribble Fishwick Bottoms Clean-Up A Success!
Hundreds of local people turned out in force in the clean-up operations running throughout Lancashire as part of the ITV Big Clean-Up, and the Ribble Big Clean-Up at Fishwick Bottoms was no exception.
An army of local volunteers, including a good number of Save The Ribblers, helped to remove the alien invader species Himalayan Balsam from the woodlands and meadows of Fishwick Bottoms, and clear up huge skip-loads of rubbish from this beautiful area.
The natural woodlands soon began to reappear from the jungle of Balsam which swamps any area it occupies and drives out native plant species, the biodiversity of our native woodlands, meadows and especially riverbanks suffering as a result. Now these cleared areas can re-colonise themselves with native plant species.
This whole day event also involved entertainment and art activities, and free food for the local Ribblesiders cleaning up this area.
The entertainment included a very unusual species of butterfly never seen at Fishwick Bottoms before!!!
This pile of rubbish alone was choking just a small area of Fishwick Bottoms...
...which can now be returned to a wildlife habitat once more!
Local people value this area for its peace and quiet, and its diverse wildlife - even deer have been seen on Fishwick Bottoms! And this is only 5 minutes from Preston City Centre!
You can read more about how the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, in conjunction with local residents, are currently working towards designating a further area of Fishwick Bottoms a Local Nature Reserve, and why the last thing local residents want on Fishwick Bottoms is new building developments.
The ITV Big Clean-Up was organised by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire in conjunction with the Community Volunteer Service, and was helped by numerous other organisations such as Preston City Council and their park wardens. The Wildlife Trust do a great deal of work on Fishwick Bottoms and other local green spaces all year round, including Preston and South Ribble and other areas along the Ribble corridor, so by all means volunteer for more of the same!
The Ribble Fishwick Bottoms Clean-Up has been a huge success, and the day was a very enjoyable event for everyone involved - and the biodiversity of our local green belt has benefited as a result! Well done to everyone involved!
If you want to share your story of the Ribble Clean-Up or other Ribbleside Tales, you can email us at savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk
Labels: Bottoms Clean Up, direct action, Fishwick Bottoms
posted by Reigh Belisama @ 9:56 am
3 Comments:
Hi, my name is Michael and me and my classmates are sort of trying to do what you guys are doing. Well we are trying to get rid of pollution in our local river (the Hautapu) We would all greatly appreciate it if you wrote back sharing some of your experiences with us and telling us a little bit more about your project. Also if you have any ideas or suggestions that would be greatly appreciated! Cheers
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hi Michael,
great to hear from you, the pictures of the Hautapu River I've found on the internet show you have a beautiful river there.
A good way to start is searches online with your river's name and see who has interests in and responsibility for your river (including Governmental responsibility such as environmental responsibility - and whoever grants licences to discharge stuff into the river), and see if you can find other local interest groups such as fishing groups, wildlife interests, and talk to them (this is where the internet and email is so useful!).
Also, if you fancy it, why not set up your own blog about it? It's a great way of raising awareness and publicising information, and is so easy to do.
But always make sure you show where your information is from and be careful that you don't fall foul of libel laws.
Good Luck!
Save The Hautapu River!!
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