River Roding Trust

Exciting news in River Guardianship: The Roding, Beam & Ingrebourne Catchment Partnership are seeking to become the first in England to bring the voice of the river they care for onto a Catchment Partnership. Although voluntary, these bodies bring together many different authorities & groups working for their rivers across the country & this have a key role in river protection & restoration. I joined the RBI Catchment Partnership 4 years ago & although I have been impressed by the efforts of many members of the group on behalf of the river, I found it odd that there was no voice we ever heard: that of the river itself. There were many issues where the lack of consideration of what the river itself might want or need led to firstly worse outcomes for the Roding. For some time I’ve sought to persuade the partnership that we should follow the burgeoning worldwide Rights of Nature movement & represent the voice of the river on the catchment partnership. They recently agreed to do this, and now we need to find the right person. The guide for the role is below: we already have a lot of knowledge of the Roding itself on the catchment partnership, so more than local knowledge, we are looking for someone who has knowledge & experience of nature guardianship & acting, advocating & speaking up for rivers. If you think this might be you, & you’d like to be the first voice of a river on an English Catchment Partnership, do consider applying for the role or asking any questions you might have.

On Thursday night I looked out of my boat & knew immediately that something was wrong on the River Roding. The moon was glimmering off the water in a strange way I hadn’t seen before. I went outside to discover an oil slick streaked across the river & the smell of engine oil in the air. Here’s what I did about it & what it says about regulatory failure & the role of river guardians 🧵

Last night I represented the River Roding at Redbridge scrutiny committee, during questioning of Environment Agency & Thames Water about Water pollution & flooding. I brought water from the river itself into the chamber, as discussing nature without its voice or presence is a cause of many of the river’s problems.