National Insect Week | 23rd

Image of Professor Lin Field and William Tall helping local schoolchildren sample
the riverbed

President of the Royal Entomological Society, Professor Lin Field,
together with William Tall of the Wandle Piscators, help
local schoolchildren sample the riverbed for riverfly larvae
at Morden Hall National Trust Park.

The pollution, which wiped out millions of invertebrates and all weed above the river bed, led to a fish kill of over 2,000 and devastated five kilometres of the river.

Anglers, first to identify the pollution, are leading on efforts to restore the river. Part of the process is a monitoring initiative, recording the recovery of insects.

During National Insect Week, the Wandle Piscators, together with the Riverfly Partnership, invited children from the local Gorringe Prep to sample the riverbed for riverfly larvae, and to learn how insects act as key pollution indicators.

The River Wandle, in South London, suffered a catastrophic pollution event in September 2007 when bleach was accidentally released into the river, reversing years of work by the local community, the Environment Agency and Thames Water.