St Albans climate campaigners fighting for a cleaner River Ver were among 350 environmental groups to take the streets of London for a major demonstration last weekend.
Over 80,000 marched along Parliament Square on June 22 as part of the Restore Nature Now demonstration, organised by Chris Packham and Dame Emma Thompson.
Members of St Albans Extinction Rebellion and the River Ver Society flew the flag for the valuable chalk stream which has been besieged by sewage in recent years.
The march was intended to remind politicians from all sides of the importance of protecting rare habitats.
London Colney resident Julian Gannon was one of those protestors.
He told the Herts Ad: “Natural England, The Environment Agency and the National Trust have been undermined by this government for merely doing their job.
"Almost half of England’s nature reserves have not been monitored by government ecologists in recent years, and only 39 per cent of our sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) are now in 'favourable condition.'
"I went on this march to tell the next government that this must stop and the countryside is for all, not just a play thing for corporate interests “
Sewage Map data has shown that thousands of hours worth of raw sewage has been dumped into the River Ver this year alone.
The Ver is one of only around 200 chalk streams in the world but is under constant threat from sewage, e-coli and invasive species such as the Red Kneed Crayfish.
Read more:
• River Ver pollution 'unacceptable' say Thames Water
• General Election candidates respond to sewage in River Ver
• Steve Coogan visits St Albans and takes trip to River Ver
Nigel Harvey from St Albans Extinction Rebellion said: “Extinction Rebellion want to join with other organisations to peacefully march, to stress to our politicians, that restoring nature is a demand that runs throughout our communities and is not confined to those who are labelled as eco activists.”
BBC presenter Chris Packham has long been an outspoken voice on the environment and was a driving force behind the march, saying: “Our message to our forthcoming government is that we’re not going to go away and we will take to the streets to make the changes that we need to ensure a healthy future.”
St Albans Greenpeace and the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust were also involved in the demonstration.
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