I blame the farmers ... and Thatcher, of course

Off to the conservation group meeting on Tuesday for the AGM and a talk on the River Itchen, our local chalk river. Interesting stuff -- the nature of ephemeral pools, the ecological disaster that is the American crayfish and its destruction of the native English crayfish population in all but a few areas, and the challenges that rivers face in the UK. Unsurprisingly, farmers and fishermen are often to blame: the former ploughs massive fields in the wrong direction, causing huge amounts of topsoil (240 tons) to be washed into the river during heavy rainstorms; fishing clubs over-manicure the banks of rivers, so their members can pretend that they're actually fishing from their lawn; and fish-farms over-stock areas, causing an abundance of predators to turn up, seeking the riverside equivalent of KFC or a drive-thru Maccy D's. Let nature take its course was the message of the evening -- although that would also mean that two-thirds of Portsmouth and one-third of Southampton being under water in 50 years' time, pretty much everything up until the M27. No great loss, given the parlous state of the Southampton's football club and the new traffic jams occasioned by the opening of the new four-floor IKEA? Well, perhaps -- although it would also mean the loss of some large areas of (currently) freshwater wetlands and the M27 is pretty handy for getting about the south coast.

Most impressive, as with the barn owl presentation last autumn, is the passion that the presenters show for their topic. They may not be the most expert of PowerPoint slide creators -- as an editor, the multiple fonts and sizes had me sitting on my hands, feeling very tense -- but they live and breathe their particular area of expertise, working in the same field (or rivers, in this case) for 30 years. Sod the celebs and footballers; these are the real heroes.