The project in Eastbourne and Pevensey Levels will be in collaboration with Blue Heart. Strandliners will be working with community groups to undertake simple surveys in their local area. This will include water quality monitoring as well as wildlife surveys (for example dragonflies, butterflies), bird surveys, river health (for example The Big River Watch). All training in water analysis provided. The data we collect will populate Blue Heart’s interactive map and will be compared to data from their automatic water monitoring stations and from other organisations such as the Environment Agency.
We are producing a monthly Community River Watch newsletter with the latest results and the upcoming dates. If you are interested in receiving this, please email.
Upcoming events
No registration necessary – just come along and join in.
Bring binoculars if you have them.
Tuesday 29th October at 10am – Gather Community Garden
Simple water testing and discover the Gather Community Garden.
Park on the road near the junction of Bridgemere Road and Churchdale Road and walk through the footpath to the garden. Wheelchair/pushchair accessible.
(What3Words: ///rotations.giggles.smoothly)
Thursday 31st October at 10.30 am – Pevensey and Westham Community Forest Garden
A simple water testing and wildlife spotting event at the Pevensey & Westham Community Forest Garden. Some of their honey may be for sale. Meet at the entrance by Fence Bridge, Wallsend Road, Pevensey (What3Words: ///ferrying.cones.reclining). Parking available at the recreation ground.
Monday 11th November at 10.30am – Polegate Jubilee Nature Reserve
Simple water testing, wildlife spotting and discover more at the Polegate Jubilee Nature Reserve. Meet at the entrance to the reserve (What3Words: ///tilt.flips.fast).
Access is from Lynholm Road down the track under Poly Arch; from Heron Ridge down the steps at the top of the road, or from the recreation ground in Brightling Road through the field.
What will be looking for?
We will have our own survey forms, but will also be using ID leaflets from the Field Studies Council, and some phone apps. These will include Merlin, for bird song; iRecord, for biodiversity identification and recording; Pl@ntNet, for plant identification; and the Big River Watch from The Rivers Trust. Please note, there is no requisite to purchase or download anything. The apps are all free, but this is for information only.
This will be a short project from August to November, but our aim is to continue into next year with more extensive training to enable groups to continue monitoring the same areas on a regular basis, promoting an awareness of seasonal changes and knowing what is ‘normal’ so an alert can be raised if there is an unexpected change.
About Pevensey Levels
Pevensey Levels is a 3,600-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Bexhill-on-Sea and Hailsham. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a Ramsar site, and a Special Area of Conservation.
Part of the area is a National Nature Reserve and there is a Pevensey Marshes nature reserve managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust.
This is a large area of wetland grazing meadows intersected by a network of ditches. It has many nationally rare invertebrates. It may be the best site in Britain for freshwater mollusc fauna, including the endangered shining ram’s-horn snail. It also has one nationally rare and several nationally scarce aquatic plants, and it is of national importance for lapwing.