Warning over 'decade of decline' for rare chalk stream in England

SURVEYING shows one of England's important chalk streams has suffered “a decade of decline”, campaigners have warned as they call for more action to protect the globally-rare habitat.

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Monitoring at five sites on the River Avon, which flows through Wiltshire and Hampshire, over the past ten years by conservation charity WildFish has found a significant decline in wildlife such as freshwater shrimps, mayflies, caddisflies, beetles, and aquatic bugs.

WildFish said the decline in invertebrate numbers show the Government is not doing enough to protect precious chalk streams - even ones such as the Avon, which have the highest conservation status.

The charity is calling for government bodies such as the Environment Agency and Natural England to “raise the bar” by setting more ambitious environmental standards to assess the health of what should be wildlife-rich chalk streams.