Chalkstreams need SAC status, says WildFish

Environmental charity WildFish has written to Environment Secretary Steve Reed, urging the government to take immediate steps to protect England’s 161 chalkstreams by upgrading their legal status.

In a letter dated 8 July, WildFish CEO Nick Measham outlined five actions the government must implement to safeguard these globally rare waterways — which make up more than 85% of the world’s chalkstreams.

Push for chalkstreams SAC designation

Central to the charity’s call is a demand for the government to designate all English chalkstreams as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). This would offer stronger legal protection against pollution and over-abstraction.

Currently, only 11 chalkstreams have Site of Special Scientific Interest status, and even fewer are designated SACs.

“Efforts to protect chalkstreams will go nowhere unless they become Special Areas of Conservation,” said Measham. “The government would be taking a vital step to protect them from the worst polluters and abstractors.”

A five-point plan for action

WildFish’s five-point plan also calls on the government to instruct the Environment Agency to review all abstraction permits and remove conservation law exemptions from the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

The charity also criticised the government’s recent response to a chalkstream petition as “entirely unsatisfactory”. It accused the government of failing to address the underlying issue: a lack of adequate legal protection for these ecologically vital habitats.

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