Since 2009 the North Devon’s Biosphere has been at the forefront of projects to improve water quality at a river catchment scale. We are pleased therefore that Environment Agency monitoring shows that this investment, primarily to support land management changes in farms, has improved the phosphate pollution status of 9 sub catchments targeted by a variety of projects.
Andy Bell from the North Devon World Biosphere says that;
“The Biosphere Reserve area is based on water catchments and what happens on the farmland in those catchments can have a huge impact on river water quality from the uppermost reaches down-stream to the estuaries and the sea. It is only by working with farmers and landowners and helping them to make land management changes that these improvements to water quality have been made. All of those farmers and the Biosphere’s partners in these projects should be congratulated for demonstrating the benefit of working together at these big scales”.
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“The Biosphere Reserve area is based on water catchments and what happens on the farmland in those catchments can have a huge impact on river water quality from the uppermost reaches down-stream to the estuaries and the sea. It is only by working with farmers and landowners and helping them to make land management changes that these improvements to water quality have been made. All of those farmers and the Biosphere’s partners in these projects should be congratulated for demonstrating the benefit of working together at these big scales”.
Download full press release

Landscape scale projects improve ecological status |