Saving the small things that run the planetThe Riverfly Partnership has been formed as a result of increasing concerns regarding declines in riverflies. This webpage details the work of the Partnership’s ‘Species and Habitat’ group. The group works on action for rare and threatened riverfly species and improvement of habitats.
Riverfly Partnership
The Riverfly Partnership (RP) was formed in 2004 and brings together anglers, conservationists, entomologists, scientists, watercourse managers and government agencies to increase our knowledge of riverfly populations and actively conserve their habitats.
One of the RP’s leading projects, launched in 2007, is the ‘Anglers Monitoring Initiative (AMI). The AMI enables trained volunteer groups to apply a simple monitoring technique to record the presence and absence of 8 invertebrate groups, 7 of which are riverflies, to monitor the biological water quality of their rivers. The volunteer groups monitor their local rivers on a regular, often monthly, basis and if severe changes are detected, a rapid response by the statutory bodies is ensured.
Riverfly Partnership: Species and Habitats Groups
This group was formed to deliver the Riverfly Partnership’s work on the conservation of rare and threatened riverfly species and their habitats through awareness raising, collaborative work with partner organisation, and through projects and research. The group includes representatives from Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, the Riverfly Recording Schemes, Salmon & Trout Association, Environment Agency, Natural England, Freshwater Biological Association amongst others.
Riverfly Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Project
The Partnership secured funding through the Natural England Countdown 2010 fund to undertake conservation work on the eight Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) riverfly species in England. BAP status means that they are species that have been identified as priorities by the government for protection. The Species and Habitats group gathered information and identified the conservation work needed for the eight species. As a result, survey work was undertaken by specialists and by volunteers in the AMI to increase knowledge on the distribution and abundance of the eight BAP riverfly species, and dossiers and summary sheets, gathering together all the known information on each species are being produced to help increase understanding and monitoring of the species. The project will also initiate the delivery of conservation actions for these riverflies. The overall aim of the project is to halt the decline of these eight riverfly species designated as conservation priorities (BAP species) by the UK Government, which are:
