Ouse & Adur Rivers Trust

@ouseadurrt.bsky.social

The Ouse & Adur Rivers Trust (OART) is dedicated to the environmental protection and enhancement of the Sussex River Ouse, the River Adur and their tributaries.

A seriously productive day with our incredible volunteers, bulding 15 leaky barriers on surface water pathways for the Uck Adaptation Project πŸ™‹β€β™‚οΈπŸ† πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈ πŸ’ͺ Leaky barriers slow the flow, reduce downstream flood peaks, create incredible habitats for amphibians and wildlife and trap silt and sediment. πŸ’¦πŸŸπŸΈπŸ™Œ

Thrilled to see the 3 new wildlife ponds we've dug at the top of the Winterbourne chalk stream catchment are filling up nicely! πŸ’ͺπŸ’¦ They provide ecological resilience, support a wide diversity of wildlife, restore connectivity to the floodplain, and provide natural flood management! πŸΈπŸŒ±πŸžπŸπŸ¦†

BildBildBildBild

Raise a glass to these legends who braved the wind & rain to plant a cross-slope hedgerow in Newhaven πŸ™Œ Part of the Ouse valley natural flood management project, this hedgerow will encourage water to infiltrate & create connectivity for wildlife! πŸŒ³πŸ’¦πŸ’ͺ Thanks to Lewes District Council for support!πŸ‘

BildBildBildBild

πŸ“’πŸ“― Exciting job alert klaxon πŸ“£πŸ‘€ The South Downs National Park Authority are hiring a Strategy Lead for Nature Recovery. An amazing role with responsibility for the delivery of nature recovery and water elements across the national park! πŸ’¦πŸŸπŸŒ³πŸΈ Check it out: www.southdowns.gov.uk/job/strategy...

Strategy Lead - Nature Recovery - South Downs National Park

The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) cares for the landscapes, wildlife and heritage of the National Park and helps people to learn about and enjoy the area.Β As a protected landscape the SD...

southdowns.gov.uk

A super productive day of wetland management with a team from Arcadis πŸ‘Œ πŸ’ͺ πŸ™‚ Sections of reeds & bullrush cut to allow space for the winter rains & wetland plants dug to translocate to restored sections of the Cockhaise brook. πŸŒΎπŸ’¦πŸŒ± Huge flocks of goldies on the teasels β™₯️ 🐦

BildBildBildBild

Twelve bags of rubbish collected from the Lewes Winterbourne stream channel today! πŸ’ͺπŸ’¦πŸ‘Œ We also opened up a large section of overshaded stream to more light to encourage a more diverse range of marginal stream vegetation. Huge thanks to Environment Agency & Lewes District Council for support πŸ™Œ

BildBildBildBild

A beautiful afternoon for some wetland management with a great team. Super effort πŸ‘Œ πŸ’ͺ πŸ™‚ Sections of reeds cut and bullrush managed to allow space for the winter rains and encourage the diversity of marginal wetland plants. πŸŒΎπŸ’¦πŸŒ± Egrets, buzzards, herons, woodpecker and kestrel kept us company β™₯️ 🐦

BildBildBildBild

Hugely exciting to be planting up our 3 new Winterbourne #ponds & creating some great amphibian/ invert habitat today! 🐸 🦎 They are filling up nicely & the shelves/margins now have many native marginal #wetland plants. 🌾🌱🌼 Fab to see greater water boatman, common darter dragonfly pond skaters!

BildBildBildBild

Huge kudos to our River Rangers who turned up for a soggy but successful wetland management session today! πŸ‘πŸ¦†πŸ’¦πŸΈ πŸ’§Willow hide trimmed πŸ’§Wetland plants translocated πŸ’§Pampas, buddleia & gourse managed πŸ’§Channel cleared for winter After such a dry year, the rain was welcome when it did arrive πŸ™

BildBildBildBild

Classed as 'reprotoxic', EEA-NH4 is a type of PFAS that can harm sexual function, fertility + child development. In 2023, we exposed a plant in Lancashire releasing almost 800kg into the River Wyre - so why isn't the curent EA investigation testing for it? 🧡 1 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Regulators overlooking toxic Pfas found around Lancashire chemicals plant

Exclusive: Environment Agency not testing for β€˜forever chemical’ made by factory despite evidence of emissions

theguardian.com

A really successful volunteer day resolving erosion that was undercutting Haredean allotments on the Lewes Winterbourne stream.πŸ’§πŸ‘Œ Nicely stabilised with natural coir matting and wooden pegs. Thanks to the Environment Agency for support and funding! πŸ™Œ

BildBildBildBild

That's a wrap! Fantastic to get phase 1 of the Landport Brooks project completed with initial ditch maintenance. πŸšœπŸ‘·πŸ’ͺ Next year's work aims to improve the ecological health & restore wet habitats of the floodplain grazing marsh. πŸ¦πŸ‘ŒπŸ„ Great partnership with @LewesDistrictCouncil and @SDNP πŸ‘

BildBildBildBild

Fantastic sunny day for stream enhancements! 🐟🌞 River Rangers got stuck into channel clearing, bird hide weaving, strimming & reed cutting. πŸ™‹β€β™‚οΈπŸ‘πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈ Lucky to be serenaded by green woodpeckers, Cetti's warbler, kingfisher, buzzards and coots. The herons gave us a flyover too!

BildBildBildBild

Very exciting to get phase 1 of the Landport Brooks restoration project underway this week with ditch management! πŸšœπŸ‘·πŸ’ͺ Over the course of the project interventions will benefit a range of wildlife & restore habitat in this floodplain grazing marsh! Great partnership with Lewes District CouncilπŸ‘

BildBildBildBild

That's a wrap! A genuinely brilliant week of berm building with our unbelievable River Rangers to finish off our Teville stream restoration!🀩πŸͺ‡πŸ‘Œ As well as 12 berms that remeander the stream, we've been translocating native marginal and wetland plants into last year's silt-filled berms.🌾πŸ’ͺπŸ’¦ πŸΈπŸ¦‹πŸπŸŸπŸ¦

BildBildBildBild

It seems the most surefire way of getting a heatwave is to book in a week of berm making!πŸ”₯β˜€οΈπŸ’¦πŸ€© Huge kudos to our incredible volunteers restoring rivers in this heat! πŸŽ–πŸͺ‡πŸ… Kingfishers, coots, rudd, frogs, & dragonflies have all been enjoying the remeandered Teville chalkstream! 🐸 πŸ¦‹πŸ¦†πŸŸ

BildBildBildBild

Not all heroes wear capes! Some legends volunteer to restore chalk streams in a heatwave! πŸ’¦πŸ”₯ Great to get 4 berms completed in the last week. We can't wait to see the marginal habitat that emerges bursting with life! πŸ¦†πŸΈπŸŸπŸπŸŒΏπŸ¦‹πŸž Baby coots, grass snakes, fritillaries, and frogs have already visited!

BildBildBildBild

A fantastically productive day out Balsam bashing. Cleared three large sections of bank on the Cockhaise Brook which flows into the Ouse. πŸ’¦πŸŒΏπŸ’ͺ Lovely to see native bird's-foot trefoil, purple loosestrife, water plantain, & water mint emerging on sections of river bank we have previously cleared πŸ˜€

BildBildBildBild

πŸ“’πŸ“£Amazing opportunity klaxon!! πŸ“’πŸ“£ Our friends and partners at Weald to Waves are hiring a Landscape Advisor to help restore biodiversity along a 100-mile nature recovery corridor through the heart of Sussex! πŸ¦”πŸ¦‡πŸ¦«πŸ¦†πŸπŸŸπŸžπŸ¦‹πŸŒ³ www.environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/106346-... Spread the word! πŸ™ πŸ™Œ

Weald to Waves Landscape Advisor

We are seeking a knowledgeable and dedicated Landscape Advisor to join our team. You will serve as a crucial link between the project and local farmers and land managers, providing guidance on ...

environmentjob.co.uk

Thrilled to share what we've been up to for the last week, digging 3 huge new wildlife ponds as part of the Winterbourne chalk stream restoration plan!πŸ’ͺπŸ’¦ These will support a wide diversity of wildlife, restore connectivity to the floodplain, provide flood attenuation & store carbon! πŸΈπŸŒ±πŸžπŸπŸ¦†πŸŸ Yay!

BildBildBildBild

Super exciting to find such a great range of freshwater invertebrates continuing to thrive at our Cockshut wetland, including mayflies, diving beetles, ramshorn snails, cased caddis & dragonfly and damselfly larvae! πŸ’¦πŸͺ±πŸšπŸͺ³πŸ˜ The diverse habitats are clearly supporting an abundance of life!πŸπŸžπŸ¦‹πŸŸπŸ€©

BildBildBildBild

Really nice to see the resilience of our Cockshut wetland even after such a dry spring! β˜€οΈπŸŒ‘ More islands & marginal bank emerging but deep pools & the low flow channel are still going strong, providing vital wetland habitats for a wealth of wildlife! 🐸πŸͺΏπŸπŸŸπŸ¦‹πŸž Great partnership @lewesdc.bsky.social πŸ‘πŸ’ͺ

BildBildBildBild

Great to be out with the River Rangers again today, doing a site reptile survey, cutting reeds, lopping brambles, & removing spent rabbit guards.πŸ˜˜πŸ’¦πŸŸπŸπŸŒ± So many damsel & dragonflies buzzing the channel, & our volunteer Ian White spotted this lovely Mother Shipton moth! πŸ¦‹ Great work teamπŸ’ͺπŸ’§πŸ‘

BildBildBildBild

A fantastic end to #INNSWeek with two days of removing non-native species from one of our precious chalk streams! πŸŒ±πŸ’¦πŸ’ͺ Two truckloads of Himalayan Balsam, Cotoneaster, Leylandii, Cherry laurel, Crocosmia, Spanish bluebells, & Box-leaved honeysuckle removed from the Lewes Winterbourne! Top effort πŸ‘

BildBildBildBild