ART Newsletter

e-newsletter issue 15 - winter 2007

Don't forget to visit our website www.associationofriverstrusts.org.uk
to find out the latest details on ART seminars,
events and projects.

This ART e-news winter special, features:

- ART Awards Dinner

- ART Autumn Conference hosted by Westcountry Rivers Trust

- Diary Date

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ART - Lindean Mill Vase

Lindean Mill Glass, established in 1978 in the Scottish Borders, has developed into a thriving internationally renowned glass studio. The vase design, especially commissioned by ART for the Awards, was chosen for its delicate colours and sinuous movement, reminiscent of the river, plants and water. The colour and movement are key elements of all their work. Each vase - a work of art in its own right - is individually blown and each is unique, born from the intricate process of blowing coloured glass.

ART Awards Dinner

ART held its 4th Annual Awards Dinner on Thursday 8th November 2007 at the Headland Hotel, Newquay in Cornwall. The event is to celebrate excellence and achievement and give public recognition to some of the superb work “above and beyond the call of duty” put in by many individuals over, in some cases, decades. It was therefore extremely rewarding that over 30 nominations were received in the 5 award categories, even if it gave the judging panels a few headaches before they were able to select this year’s winners. ART is extremely grateful to everyone who nominated individuals for awards and congratulates all those nominated.

The judging panel felt that all nominations deserve acknowledgement and serve to give a flavour of the huge amount of river based environmental improvement activity being undertaken across the UK.

Association of Rivers Trusts Awards “in recognition of excellence and achievement…”

Award for Contribution to Science (Nominations)

Dr Dylan Bright (Westcountry Rivers Trust) ASAP salmon genetics project
Prof Stuart Lane (Durham University) Linking hydrological connectivity of land to fisheries

Award for Contribution to Best Fisheries Project with Environmental Improvements (Nominations)

Terry Cousins (Eden RT) Linking angling and river fly life stages
Jon Evans (Camel Fisheries Assoc) Creation of spawning beds on the Stannon Stream
Chris Littlefield (Lune Habitat Group) £50-100k pa volunteer habitat improvements on the Lune catchment
Mott McDonald Bentley venture River Worth (Aire catchment) fish pass
Edward Twiddy (Wild Trout Trust) Habitat & fishery improvement advisory visits

Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Volunteer (Nominations)

Andrew Davison (Tyne RT) Tireless work on the River Tyne
Fred French (NAFAC) Championing the collective approach across angling disciplines
Steve Hudson (Bude Canal Regeneration) Developing Bude Wetland Wildlife Week
Tyson Jackson (Camel Fisheries Assoc) Over 20 years representing fishing in the SW region & Cornwall
Tyson Jackson/Jon Evans (Camel Fisheries Assoc) Creation of spawning beds on the Stannon Stream
Chris Littlefield (Lune Habitat Group) Founding Lune Habitat Group volunteer
Stephen Marsh-Smith Representing angling across Wales at all levels
Dennis Mitchell (S&TA) Active support of salmonid angling nationally
Dale Renac (Maryport Anglers) Almost single handed fight for the R Ellen, Cumbria
Edward Twiddy (Wild Trout Trust) Habitat & fishery improvement advisory visits
Anne Voss-Bark (Westcountry Rivers Trust) Support of angling groups in the Westcountry & nationally
Tony Wells (Wiltshire Fishery Assoc) Extensive involvement on the upper Avon catchment

Public Sector Award (Nominations)

Dr Elizabeth Chalk (EA Yorkshire) Over 30 years' devotion to improving rivers in the Yorkshire Dales
Allyn Davies (Welsh Assembly Govt) Promotion of Rivers Trusts in Wales
Andy Schofield/Ben Wilson (EA Wales) Promotion of fisheries in Wales
Pete Turner (EA Yorkshire) River Worth (Aire catchment) fish pass

ART Special Award for Contribution to the Rivers Trusts Movement (Nominations)

Dr Dylan Bright (Westcountry RT) International recognition of salmon genetics
Dr Laurence Couldrick (Westcountry RT) Education from degree level to the junior "Wet Feet" programme
Dr Keith Hendry (APEM) A champion for Eden, Tyne, Ribble & Mersey Basin initiatives
Rob Oates (WWF) Unselfish support and promotion of rivers trusts
Archie Ruggles-Brise (Tyne RT) Innovative and inclusive action plan for the Tyne
Robbie Russell (Westcountry RT) Unsung but essential EU project claim administration etc.

However, sadly, not all nominees can win and this year our Sponsors and ART were pleased to announce the following winners in each of the categories:

Award for Contribution to Science
Sponsored by Atlantic Salmon Trust (including a cheque for £1,000)
Presented by Ivor Llewelyn, Deputy Director, Atlantic Salmon Trust
Dr Dylan Bright (Westcountry Rivers Trust) ASAP salmon genetics project

Award for Contribution to Best Fisheries Project with Environmental Improvements
Sponsored by Salmon & Trout Association (including a cheque for £2,000)
Presented by Paul Knight, Director, Salmon & Trout Association
Terry Cousins (Eden RT) Linking angling and river fly life stages - received on his behalf by Maggie Robinson

Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Volunteer
Sponsored by WWF & HSBC (including a cheque for £2,000)
Presented by Rob Oates, Manager, WWF, UK Freshwater and Climate Change Adaptation Programme
Tyson Jackson (Camel Fisheries Assoc) Over 20 years representing fishing in the SW region & Cornwall


Dr Dylan Bright (Westcountry Rivers Trust) receiving his award from Ivor Llewelyn, Deputy Director, Atlantic Salmon Trust	Terry Cousins (Eden RT) received on his behalf by Maggie Robinson from Paul Knight, Director, Salmon & Trout Association	Tyson Jackson (Camel Fisheries Assoc) receiving his award from Rob Oates, Manager, WWF, UK Freshwater and Climate Change Adaptation Programme

Public Sector Award
Lindean Mill Vase
Presented by Ian Gregg, Chairman, ART
Dr Elizabeth Chalk (EA Yorkshire) Over 30 years' devotion to improving rivers in the Yorkshire Dales - received on her behalf by Philip Lord

ART Special Award for Contribution to the Rivers Trusts Movement
Including a cheque for £1,000
Presented by Ian Gregg, Chairman, ART
Rob Oates (WWF) Unselfish support and promotion of rivers trusts


Dr Elizabeth Chalk (EA Yorkshire) received on her behalf by Philip Lord from Ian Gregg, Chairman, ART	Rob Oates (WWF) receiving his award from Ian Gregg, Chairman, ART

ART's Autumn Conference hosted by Westcountry Rivers Trust's - "The myth of the natural river: to protect, restore or enhance?"

On Friday 9th November ART’s Autumn Conference hosted and run by Westcountry Rivers Trust followed on from the Awards Dinner and was held at the internationally famous Eden Project, near Cornwall’s English Channel coast, in support of WRT’s Atlantic Salmon Arc Project, which is part funded under the EU Interreg IIIB programme.

As the title suggests, the Conference was themed on the concept of a natural river, given that UK catchments are all impinged by human development, if not through direct riparian activity then through land use within the catchment and anthropogenic driven changes in climate. Man’s influence in the recent geological timescale has altered natural balances and cycles at a rate that natural selection could not feasibly match. The Conference addressed the underlying questions of whether there is a way to manage catchments towards what we deem to be a “natural state”, supporting natural levels of diversity and abundance whilst substantially retaining the other services provided upon which modern society relies, and what level of intervention is suitable: protection, restoration or enhancement?

The morning session commenced with the broader aspects of fluvial geography (Malcolm Newson), the Ecosystem Approach (Ed Maltby) and the concept and practice of river management (Ronald Campbell), and included an excellent presentation by Gijs Kurstjens on re-wilding the delta of the River Rhine where it enters the Netherlands (The Gelderse Poort Project).

In the afternoon, we were treated by our own Alistair Maltby to a fascinating and entertaining insight into the impacts by man in the Pacific North West. Alistair won a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to travel to Alaska and North America. in order to study water resource management vis-à-vis climate change, and it is clear that the opportunity was very rewarding by learning from the experience of others. The conference then continued on this wider “lessons learned” front by focussing on the protection of water voles (Rob Strachan) and the history of beavers (Bryony Coles) and their reintroduction, with an equally entertaining presentation by Gerhard Schwab on living with beavers in Bavaria, based on his own practical experience over many years. The conference ended with a thought provoking presentation by Roy Dennis, from the Highland Foundation for Wildlife, on the restoration of top predators, which promotes a variety of responses from irrational hostility to narrow minded interest to healthy debate and practical management solutions to deal with undesirable problem areas.

From the rivers trust point of view, the conference reinforced our long held belief that we should consider river/water issues in the wide environmental context; through the Ecosystem Approach on a catchment scale. Good quality river corridors provide a rich and diverse habitat for fish, animals and insects: good management is best left in the capable hands of local communities.

We are indebted to Westcountry Rivers Trust for organising the conference, in particular Dylan Bright, Lynne Hyland and Lyn Morley, and to Derek Gow for his technical advice and help in arranging the speakers on wildlife introductions and management.

Diary Date

ART's Spring 2008 Event
Hosted by the Tweed Foundation Thursday 5th and Friday 6th June 2008 at Melrose
The Tweed Foundation will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2008. To mark the occasion the Foundation’s Trustees particularly invite the Trustees and Biologists of other Rivers’ Trusts in the United Kingdom to join them for a two day meeting on:

Day 1 - A workshop to discuss “What is a Natural River” developing themes that emanate from Westcountry Rivers Trust’s meeting on November 9th and incorporating issues such as biodiversity, fluvial form, river-works, stock introductions and flood defences.

The day concludes with a dinner marking the 25th anniversary.

Day 2 – The Foundation’s Trustees will present a Perpetual Angling Challenge Trophy which, in the first instance, will be competed for on Tweed . Trusts, or groups of Trusts will be invited to enter fishing teams in various classes e.g. burn fishing, loch fishing or fishing with cane rods. The purpose of this day is to extend the networking opportunities and allow them to continue discussion and debate upon matters of mutual interest whilst in a relaxing venue.


wwf.org.uk	hsbcinsociety.com

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