Method of Delivery
The delivery of Cornwall Rivers Project
is based on a methodology developed by the WRT over a
number of years, and successfully implemented in two previous
catchment scale projects - Tamar 2000 and Westcountry
Rivers Project.
Based on this rationale, the initial
planning phase for CRP involved assessing 10 river catchments
in their entirety to identify key problem areas, the nature
and scale of the impacts emanating from these areas and
the most effective methods of dealing with these impacts.
Ultimately, the aim of this stage of the planning process
was to trace impacts to a sub-catchment (tributaries)
or individual stream level which can be targeted during
the project, thereby optimising available resources to
deliver maximum benefit. A further 5 catchments were added
for attention in 2005.
1. Catchment Planning
At the heart of the WRT's methodology
is the 'Ecosystem Approach', a framework adopted under
the Convention On Biological Diversity (CBD) to tackle
given environmental problems at a scale appropriate to
the successful remediation of these problems. Given that
the majority of impacts on Cornwall's rivers, and particularly
impacts on the salmonid fishery, are caused by diffuse
sources of pollution which are transferred via an interconnected
web of land and water within each river catchment, it
follows that each catchment must be managed as an integrated
unit in order to solve these impacts. To protect or enhance
one area of a catchment whilst ignoring adjacent or interconnected
areas is not a viable solution.
Based on this rationale, the initial
planning phase for CRP involved assessing 10 river catchments
in their entirety to identify key problem areas, the nature
and scale of the impacts emanating from these areas and
the most effective methods of dealing with these impacts.
Ultimately, the aim of this stage of the planning process
was to trace impacts to a sub-catchment (tributaries)
or individual stream level which can be targeted during
the project, thereby optimising available resources to
deliver maximum benefit.
2. Proactive involvement of stakeholders
Having identified specific sub-catchments
or target areas in which to work within the catchment
as a whole, the current stage of the project - the delivery
phase - involves contacting farmers and river managers
to raise awareness of the problems identified at the planning
stage and seek practical solutions to these problems at
an individual site or farm scale. Two main tools are used
to achieve these outcomes: proactive farm visits and the
production of whole farm plans.
In order to engage landowners effectively,
it is necessary to proactively 'cold-call' individuals
in target areas to initiate dialogue. Westcountry Rivers
Trust field advisers spend a considerable proportion of
their time proactively approaching landowners, progressively
contacting as many individuals as possible within a specific
catchment or sub-catchment. Intimate knowledge of specific
geographic areas and communities is developed over time
which provides advisers with credibility when approaching
'new' farmers for the first time.
Free field visits are offered to landowners
with the objectives of jointly reviewing on-site land
use and potential for environmental and economic improvements.
Site specific management plans are then developed, integrating
advice on best management practices with an appraisal
of options to improve land use, reduce costs, improve
returns and meet specific conservation needs.
A key objective of CRP is to demonstrate
economic savings and gains to farmers, for example through
efficient management of fertilisers and farmyard manures.
A considerable number of farms in the project will derive
financial benefit from reducing nitrate fertiliser usage,
the savings coming from careful targeting, timing and
application of bag fertiliser and the application of correct
values to soil N and organic manures in the crop requirement
calculation. Coupled with the use of clover in suitable
grass leys and focused cropping, grazing and cutting regimes,
benefits accrue to both farm profitability and the environment.
The substantial cash savings on fertiliser are equivalent
to that which previously would have leached from the soil
and contributed to the nutrient enrichment of adjacent
watercourses.
Farm yard manure, slurry and dirty
water suffers from being referred to as farm 'waste'.
This regularly means farmers underestimate its nutrient
value as well as the costs associated with its storage
and application. Here the project seeks to attach real
values to this important farm by-product and reduce handling
costs by waste minimisation techniques, in particular
by concentrating effort on clean and dirty water separation
in the farmyard. Advice is then directed to its careful
application to reduce run off and maximise take up by
the growing crop.
Phosphates have perhaps played a bigger
part than nitrates in the eutrophication problems associated
with many Cornish rivers. As with nitrates soil testing
has revealed that on many livestock farms the application
of bag phosphate can be dramatically reduced or even cut
out altogether. This work coupled with developing Best
Management Practices to reduce loss of topsoil and erosion
(phosphates often enter the river attached to soil particles)
brings further gains to both farmer and water quality.
An extremely important feature of CRP
is the development of 130 'Best Farming Practice' guidance
notes, which are being distributed to landowners and river
managers in conjunction with whole farm plans. These guidance
notes provide practical information on a whole host of
environmental management concerns, and stress the link
between economic benefit and improved environmental husbandry
where ever possible. Importantly, they are presented in
a user-friendly format, accessible to both technical and
non-technical readers.
