Cookie Control

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer.

Some cookies on this site are essential, and the site won't work as expected without them. These cookies are set when you submit a form, login or interact with the site by doing something that goes beyond clicking on simple links.

We also use some non-essential cookies to anonymously track visitors or enhance your experience of the site. If you're not happy with this, we won't set these cookies but some nice features of the site may be unavailable.

By using our site you accept the terms of our Privacy Policy.

(One cookie will be set to store your preference)
(Ticking this sets a cookie to hide this popup if you then hit close. This will not store any personal information)

"Climate-Hit Wetlands Lay Bare Britain's Biodiversity Struggle"

"THE BROADS NATIONAL PARK, England - As seagulls circled above and tourists watched in confusion, Duncan Holmes steered his boat through thousands of dead fish bobbing at the surface of the River Thurne in east England.

Holmes, 48, a retired engineer turned fishing instructor, was out one day in September to document the severity of a fish kill that has amplified concerns about declining biodiversity and fragmented conservation efforts in The Broads National Park.

A local fishing group estimated that hundreds of thousands of freshwater fish, mollusks and key insects died after successive high tides trapped inland by strong onshore winds - and exacerbated by a months-long drought - caused high levels of saltwater from the North Sea to surge upriver.

For Holmes - whose family has lived in the region for generations - there was "despair that you're seeing it again and again," he said, referring to the fish kill last year."

Rachel Parsons reports for Thomson Reuters Foundation April 26, 2023.

Source: Thomson Reuters Fdn., 05/03/2023