River health revealed in 'shocking' figures

Just 17% of England's rivers are judged to be in good health, according to Environment Agency figures.

Rivers can become polluted from farms, run-off from roads and sewage works

This is down from 29% with a good ecological status in 2014. The analysis is shocking, say environmentalists.

Problems are caused by over-abstraction and pollution from farms, run-off from roads and effluent from sewage works - as well as invasive species.

The Environment Agency says the figures look bad because the EU's assessment criteria have been tightened.

"Threatens wildlife"

The EU asks nations to grade rivers into poor, moderate, good and high. Governments should aim for rivers to be "good" - that is relatively unaffected by human activity. "High" refers to upland streams in sparsely-populated areas.

The statistics show 0.08% of England's rivers are high quality; 17.06 good; 62.4% moderate; 17.22% poor and 3.24% bad.

Rose O'Neill from WWF said: "The figures released today are shocking and show us that things are worse than we thought. This is unacceptable and threatens wildlife and livelihoods.

"It's clear that we are failing our rivers and the wildlife they impact. We need to see government action to restore these rivers, for example by reducing abstraction and tackling pollution.

More than 27 tonnes of ammonium leaches from an Oxford wetland into the River Thames every year, reports the Natural Environment Research Council

Researchers take a sample of water from River Thames at Oxford for analysis. Photograph: Dr Daren Gooddy/NERC

The Environment Agency feels aggrieved by the ratings.

Previously it used to judge a river based on various chemical tests. Now a river must be subjected to many tests on chemistry, flow and wildlife - and if it fails any single test it cannot achieve "good" status.

It says if you examine the tests individually, 74% of them achieve the highest two scores of good or high status.

Extra measures

A spokesman said the agency has improved or stabilized the condition of nearly 2,000 miles of rivers.

He said: "The Environment Agency will continue to work closely with farmers, businesses and water companies to reduce pollution and improve water quality wherever, and however, possible."

Wildlife groups reject the phrase "wherever possible". They think the agency should be tougher with polluters and farmers who reduce the flow of rivers by taking out too much water.

The future criteria for measuring the health of river are currently under discussion.

Blueprint for Water, a coalition of 16 environmental and fishing organisations, urges the public to respond to the Agency's current consultation on River Basin Management Plans.

Farmers are concerned about who pays for the extra measures needed to meet the EU's rules under the Water Framework Directive.

From BBC Environment

Vietnamese push back on Facebook to save Hanoi's trees

Vietnamese are often wary of talking about politics for fear of running afoul of their communist government - but the garden gloves came off in a fight over Hanoi's beloved trees.

It's sometimes called the "Paris of Asia" on account of its wide boulevards and well-preserved French-influenced architecture. Hanoians are justifiably proud of their city's beauty - which is part of the reason why a government plan to axe hundreds of the city's trees resulted in a huge push back on Facebook.

A Facebook page set up to save the trees quickly garnered more than 50,000 fans. And following a massive outpouring of opposition by celebrities and ordinary people, the government reversed its decision and promised to replace trees that had already been felled.

But the victory was about more than just foliage. Speaking out against the government can earn Vietnamese a jail sentence, and it seems the outpouring over the capital's tree population pointed to a more general sentiment inside the country.

"To be precise it's not only this tree chopping but virtually every policy of the government is being complained about," said one Facebook user. "Many things are short-termish and unreasonable that are not to the people's liking and people have lost trust [in the government]."

Hung Nguyen of BBC Vietnamese says the nature of the campaign - or rather, the fact it was a nature campaign - allowed Hanoians to question their government.

Facebook users including model Ha Anh Vu posted pictures of themselves enjoying Hanoi's parks and trees.

"This is a rare example of civil society in Vietnam," Nguyen says. "Challenging the government or party is still something rare in Vietnam and can land people in jail quite easily. But this issue appears to be non-                                                                                            political which is why it got momentum on Facebook."

From BBC News Environment