World Rivers Day falls on Sunday 27 September, and Waltham Forest Council is marking it by highlighting Wildways along the Ching — a project working with local people to improve the health of the river running through Highams Park.
The initiative is delivered by the council with more than £350,000 of funding secured from the Mayor of London, and runs until summer 2027. Alongside improving the river and its ecosystems, it aims to boost climate resilience across Highams Park and along the Ching.
The work on the ground covers a lot of ground. Volunteers and staff have been planting along the riverbank and removing invasive species, installing kingfisher perches, and creating easier pathways for fish to move through the river system. The point of it all is to help the river support more wildlife, and to improve water quality for years to come.
If you'd like to see what that looks like, there are two straightforward ways in.
The first is an exhibition. "Artists Field Notes: Wildways along the Ching" is running at Hale End Library until Saturday 3 October, and brings together paintings, photographs, ceramics and textiles made in response to the river. It's free to drop in and there's still time to catch it.
The second is getting your hands dirty. The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) run regular Biodiversity Action Team sessions at Wadham Meadow, one of the sites being enhanced by the project. The sessions are open to anyone interested in habitat management and biodiversity — and, importantly, no prior experience is needed. You don't have to know a kingfisher perch from a hole in the ground to turn up.
World Rivers Day is an annual celebration of waterways across the globe and the part they play in our lives. It exists to highlight the value of rivers, raise public awareness and encourage better stewardship of them — which, on the Ching at least, is something residents are already doing.
