River Wandle.
Revitalising urban rivers, hot conservation topics
31 January 2012
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham goes to the River Wandle in south-west London to find out how scientific research is helping to revitalise this heavily-used river; later he goes to Cambridge to hear about some of the hottest conservation topics for 2012.
The River Wandle is typical of many urban rivers – it once flowed through fields of crops, but now it's surrounded by roads, railways, houses and businesses. It's been subjected to a whole host of abuses over the last 200 years, including pollution, sewerage and re-routing. Even so, it turns out all is not lost.
Making small changes suggested by scientific research can help bring our dilapidated rivers back to some of their former glory. Richard goes to Croydon to see for himself.
Listen
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A full text transcript is available.
Over at the University of Cambridge, a group of the world's leading conservationists recently met up for the third year running to discuss which 15 issues are most likely to affect the diversity of life on Earth in the near future. An eclectic range of topics has cropped up in the past, but this year there was a striking focus on the marine environment. Richard talks to Bill Sutherland, who led the study, to find out more.
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Keywords:
Biodiversity,
Europe,
Freshwater,
Hydrology,
Oceans,
Pollution,
Rivers and lakes,
Water,
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