Cambridge City Council is marking World Rivers Day this year by inviting residents to get involved in its project to protect and enhance the area’s unique and important chalk streams.

As one of the custodians of Cambridge’s rivers, streams and wetlands, the council works to protect and enhance the city’s waterways. Biodiversity teams were thrilled to see that footage of an otter had recently been recorded at the council’s Logan’s Meadow Local Nature Reserve (LNR) on a camera placed there by scientists from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). 

• Watch the footage of the otter below

Earlier this year work to create large new wetlands at Logan’s Meadow LNR was completed, including open water, reedbeds, ditches and wet woodland. Once new habitats there have become fully established, they will provide ideal new locations for other species besides otters – including water voles, reed warblers, grass snakes, banded demoiselle butterflies, as well as breeding fish and amphibians.

This autumn, a new initiative to monitor the health of chalk streams in and around Cambridge is also due to get under way. Forming part of the council’s far-reaching Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project, the initiative will see volunteer ‘citizen scientists’ trained by ARU, then collect data to help assess and restore the area’s important chalk stream habitats which are under threat. 

High-resolution monitoring will measure things like temperature, pH levels, flow rates, sediments and the presence of different chemicals and bacteria in the streams in order to build up a real-time picture of their health. 

• Residents who would like to take part in monitoring and help the region’s chalk streams survive and thrive can register their interest by emailing nature@cambridge.gov.uk or filling in the form on the council’s website

Monitoring work has already started at chalk streams in the Cambridge area to assess pressures placed on them by pollution. A snapshot survey undertaken at Coldham’s Common is helping the council design realistic, evidence-based features to mitigate pollution. Alongside this, surveys of macroinvertebrate species are being carried out, and ARU have completed surveys at all of the Chalk Stream Project’s case study sites, giving the council a strong baseline for planning the future restoration of the area’s chalk streams.

Further work on chalk stream channels is due to start soon at Coldham’s Common and Cherry Hinton Brook in the city, and at Linton Pocket Park and Abington on the River Granta, following a consultation period. Proposals will include work to create more diverse habitats, improve oxygen levels, and support bankside vegetation.

Cllr Martin Smart, Cabinet Member for Nature, Open Space and City Services, said: “It’s very exciting to see otters making a comeback in the River Cam, and starting to inhabit the new wetlands areas created only recently at Logan’s Meadow, right in the heart of the city.

“Protecting our river and the region’s vitally important chalk streams are of huge importance, and the Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project is a great example of how scientists, conservationists, and local communities can work together using real-life data towards achieving something very worthwhile.

“Chalk streams have been described as ‘England’s Great Barrier Reef’ and they are among the rarest and most fragile habitats on Earth. Around 85% of these streams are located in England, including in Cambridgeshire, where they play a crucial role in supporting diverse wildlife, local agriculture, and even the wellbeing of people who visit and enjoy them.

“If you’d like to help us and our many partners with this important project, please do get in touch by emailing nature@cambridge.gov.uk.”

Urban wildlife research flourishes through ARU–city council partnership

The recent otter sighting at Logan’s Meadow LNR, captured while researching urban water voles, highlights the enduring collaboration between Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and the city council. For many years, the council has worked with ARU so students can have access to city-owned local nature reserves, parks, and watercourses in order to conduct diverse undergraduate research – from beetle assemblages in cow pats to assessing recreational impacts on urban habitats.

Field excursions are a regular feature too, with Mill Road Cemetery – a council-managed County Wildlife Site adjacent to ARU – serving as a living classroom for activities including invertebrate surveying and botanical identification.

This partnership between Cambridge City Council and Anglia Ruskin University has grown further through the Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project, marked by the appointment of ARU’s Citizen Science Coordinator and the successful hosting of the Chalk Stream Conference at ARU earlier this year.