The Priority Habitats initiative aims to build a shared understanding of priority freshwater habitats and a common vision for how we restore natural habitat function in our rivers and lakes. It brings a range of partners together, including statutory agencies, NGOs and universities/academic research teams. A key area for collaboration is the links between related citizen science initiatives so that data can be shared and used for multiple purposes.
The project is funded by the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme. It is delivered by the Freshwater Biological Association in partnership with previous funder Natural England.
The FBA is dedicated to understanding and protecting freshwater environments across the world and delivers Priority Habitats alongside a range of other citizen science and species recovery projects.
The Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment programme is delivering a nationwide survey of England’s land, coast, and sea: mapping the location, extent and condition of our ecosystems and the benefits they provide. The NCEA is currently funding Priority Habitats to facilitate the collection of citizen science data on key freshwater ecosystems.
Natural England is the Government’s adviser on the natural environment and has a lead role in promoting nature conservation and protecting biodiversity. National freshwater specialists have led the development of the technical rationale for priority river and lake habitats in England, in collaboration with the partners listed here and individuals on the Rivers and Lakes Stakeholder Groups.
Other organisations working to make a difference
There are other initiatives which gather more detailed data on certain aspects of freshwater habitats and their species assemblages. These include (but are not limited to) the Riverfly Partnership, the Rivers Trusts, the Freshwater Habitats Trust, CrowdWater, SmartRivers, Earthwatch Waterblitz, Modular River Survey, and the Angling Trust Water Quality Monitoring Network.
If you have a citizen science initiative looking to monitor freshwater which would work well alongside Priority Habitats, please get in touch!