Introduction: The importance of rivers.

Rivers are a significant aspect to human life, although many people overlook them. For example, a sustainable water supply is frequently drawn from river basins across the world. Flooding is the most widely reported natural disaster affecting millions of people globally every year. Rivers also significantly boost the economy due to their importance to various groups such as:

·       Nature/ wildlife enthusiasts. 

·        Those undertaking recreational sports, such as kayaking and canoeing.

·   People wanting the protection of local heritage, where the natural beauty may attract tourism.  

·       Energy groups through hydropower.

·        Anglers. 4 million anglers contribute £6 million to the economy in the UK every year.

The health of our rivers has been damaged over the last few centuries due to human intervention. We are now in a state of attempting to recover biodiversity within rivers, which EU setting a deadline of 2015 to achieve this.

This blog introduces some very basic topics when applying restoration and rehabilitation schemes and how you can see this within the comforts of your own home! Note, this is a very brief introduction and would encourage anyone interested to read/look around further.