Wild trout and many other species are coming back to city streams after centuries of abuse. But these recovering ecosystems still need all the help we can give them – so Trout in the Town is the Wild Trout Trust’s project to help local communities look after their rivers in towns and cities across the UK.
By some calculations, over 90% of the UK’s population will be living in urban areas by 2030, and rivers and green spaces have huge benefits for people’s health and happiness.
It’s great to know that many of the rivers in Britain’s towns and cities are now the cleanest they’ve been for the last 100 years. But urban rivers and their fish still live at constant risk of pollution from surface water drainage, fly-tipping and sewage treatment accidents, as well as being cut off from the places around them by steep brick or concrete walls, or even buried in pipes.
All this adds up to a huge opportunity for local people to start taking pride in the urban rivers on their doorsteps — so they can start enjoying their beauty again, instead of avoiding them as dangerous eyesores. And that’s where the Wild Trout Trust’s Trout in the Town project comes in.
If you’d like any help looking after your local urban river, we can offer free support and expert technical guidance, as well as partnership opportunities for bigger projects.
We can put you in touch with other people who are fighting for their own urban streams, (see below for a full list of our current Trout in the Town projects) or arrange a meeting with one of our Trout in the Town experts.
- Paul Gaskell: Trout in the Town Manager (North)
- Theo Pike: Trout in the Town Officer (South)
