Linda Pitkin/2020VISION
Land, rivers and sea are pollution free
The state of our rivers is a national disgrace. The UK is ranked as one of the worst countries in Europe for water quality, with pollution beyond legal limits caused by a toxic cocktail of sewage and agricultural pollution. Currently, 40% of waters fail quality targets due to pollution from agriculture and land management and in 2022 alone, raw sewage was discharged into waterways over 300,000 times.
Kent Wildlife Trust were the first to reintroduce beavers to our landscape over 20 years ago at Ham Fen Nature Reserve, Today they serve as a beacon of hope to help us rewet our landscape and provide a vital habitat for smaller species such as the water vole. Our rivers are no longer suitable homes for wildlife, they are not fit for people to swim in, and thanks to climate change and growing demand, we are seeing water availability decrease before our eyes. This is a crisis – and one which the public wants to see urgently resolved.
But pollution doesn't just end at our waterways, our roads and urban areas are increasingly becoming toxic to the health of the communities that live there. The UK Air Resource says Kent is the worst spot in Britain for air pollution. As areas like Dartford and Gravesham continue to be built on without any provisions made for eco-friendly transportation, we will continue to see a rise in health related issues in people and wildlife.
To end pollution on our land, rivers and seas, we’re calling on all political parties to...
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
Enforce the law
Cuts to enforcement agencies and environmental protection budgets over the past decade have left our county defenceless against polluters. Environmental watchdogs must be empowered and sufficiently resourced to ensure they can monitor and inspect polluters and enforce penalties upon those who break the law. Fly-tipping is of particular issue in Kent and has increased 10% to more than 27,000 cases last year. We need more enforcement of the laws that are supposed to protect valuable habitats like the SSSI woodland, Hoad's Wood which has been desimated by fly-tipping.
River © Alicia Leow-Dyke
Halve nutrient pollution by 2030
Sewage, wastewater and agriculture are all suffocating our rivers and the wildlife that depends on them. The public rightly want to see heathy, safe and clean rivers, lakes, wetlands and coasts. Nature can be part of the solution – for example stopping rainwater from overwhelming the sewage system and agricultural pollution from leaching into freshwater habitats.
We're also asking the government to develop more sustainable infrastructure networks so that residents can make greener choices when they travel. Our bus services are few and far between and our roads are not cyclist friendly!
Linda Pitkin/2020VISION
Deliver stronger protection for chalk streams
A globally rare habitat; there are only about 250 chalk streams in the world, about 160 of them are in England, with some raising from the chalk aquifer of the North Downs under Kent, inc. River Darent, Great Stour, Little Stour, Nailbourne, Dour and North and South Streams. These unique rivers are some of the planet’s rarest habitats yet are frequently polluted and drained almost dry - killing off vulnerable wildlife that relies on them. Strengthened legal protections are required to protect and reverse damage to these crucial habitats.
Photo from: londonresort.info
Protect Marine Areas in Kent
In Kent, we have 11 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ's); Swanscombe, Medway Estuary (zone 1 and 2), Swale Estuary, Thanet Coast, Kentish Knock East, Goodwin Sands, Dover to Deal, Foreland, Dover to Folkestone, Folkestone Pomerania, and Inner Bank. Harmful activities such as trawling or the use of bottom towed fishing gear still take place so we're asking put forward our Kent coastal sites listed above as Highly Marine Protected Areas which would give them greater protection from habitat & carbon loss.
