Lakes and their restoration – opportunities for nature recovery and people: Cheshire, June 22.
A multi-sector audience of environmental NGOs, practitioners, academics, researchers and statutory agencies gathered providing a great opportunity to learn and share experience on:
- The role of lakes in the context of nature recovery networks, landscape and catchment scale restoration
- Engagement of citizens in understanding lakes
- How lake restoration is being delivered across England
Tony Juniper – Chair of Natural England opened the conference with a keynote paper describing his own fascination with lakes and making the case for wider collaboration to create a more sustainable future for lakes.
Conference presentations:
- Scene Setting: Lakes – opportunities for restoration and contribution to a Nature Recovery Network – Ruth Hall/Glen Cooper, Natural England
- The National Trust (NT) Lake Collection: balancing nature, landscape and heritage Stewart Clarke, National Specialist – Freshwater, Catchments & Estuaries, NT
- Opportunities for angling and lake conservation to co-exist – Carl Sayer, University College London
- Delivering environmental improvements to the North West lakes network through a Catchment Systems Thinking Approach (CasT) – Mark Sewell and Sion Platts Kilburn, United Utilities
- Challenges of restoring natural function – improving water quality & lake hydrology – an example from Elterwater, Cumbria – Jayne Wilkinson, South Cumbria Rivers Trust.
- Reviving the edges: understanding historical wetland extent and lakeshore restoration opportunities for England’s lakes – Phil Taylor & Ellie Mackay, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
- Freshwater Priority Habitat Citizen Science – Amy Jones, Freshwater Biological Association.
- Restoring Hatchmere- Beavers, Fish, Hydrology and Pollution – Intro to site visit Kevin Feeney, Cheshire Wildlife Trust
The second day was based around two field visits to internationally designated lakes in Cheshire, Hatchmere and Tatton Mere, to see and hear about issues affecting them, and discuss solutions implemented for their restoration. Including the introduction of beavers, restoring the hydrological regime, altering fish assemblages and improving water quality.
Feedback from the event:
“I am much more inspired to do stuff on lakes”
“It reinforced the importance of focusing on lakes as well as rivers”
“Meeting face to face – changed views”
“I liked the full day of talks, it made it easier to get funding to come”
“I got a big dollop of CPD out of it!”
“The best training I have had since joined organisation”
“The importance of networking is harder to quantify”
Event sponsors
Many thanks to Iolight and Aquatic solutions UK for supporting the event
Get in touch
If you would like to find out more about attending, or being involved in our next event please get in touch: info@ukandirelandlakes.org