Volunteers in Somerset spent time "living as" salmon, deer and earthworms to map what harms wildlife on their river
Positive News has the oddest community science project of the week, and a 30-year plan modeled on military operations planning.
What happened: In a study called Risks Beyond Human Eyes, led by the University of the West of England and the Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment, 18 volunteers were trained in the senses and biology of a red deer, kestrel, earthworm, otter or Atlantic salmon. Then they went out to experience the River Tone in Somerset, England, as that animal would. One swam through polluted, low-oxygen water as a salmon. A soil ecologist playing an earthworm was overwhelmed by the vibration of a farm generator. The risks they found have been mapped in an online database.
Why it matters: Organizer Phil Tovey, a former Royal Marines Commando, argues that population counts miss how human changes make individual animals suffer. The community has now drafted a 30-year river campaign, adapted from an open-source Ministry of Defence planning document.
How much agreement is there? Broad agreement that the river is pollution-hit. The method is new and unusual, so whether it changes outcomes is still to be seen.
Could someone help? Volunteer Jake Lawy's ideas are things a local group can push for: dimming street lights near rivers and removing old weirs. A public webinar on the method is planned for Nov. 18.
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River Tone
After exploring Volunteers became salmon, deer and earthworms. Then they set out to save their river, to get to know the river itself, read about the River Tone.
The Tone is a 33 km river in Somerset that rises in the Brendon Hills, is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir, flows through Taunton and joins the River Parrett.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
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