Burgh Island hosts VIP climate summit to tackle pollution crisis

Burgh Island Hotel, the iconic Art Deco retreat on a private tidal island, is the ideal venue for a VIP conference looking at the challenges of climate change.

The Island Assembly was being held at the hotel on Thursday March 13.

This year’s conference focused on tackling water pollution, with a particular emphasis on Devon’s rivers, which are under severe threat, as 80 per cent currently fail to achieve ‘good’ ecological status.

Monty Halls, the renowned marine biologist, conservationist, and broadcaster – best known for his work on the BBC, Channel 4 and National Geographic – was delivering the keynote address, highlighting the urgent threat of water pollution and its impact on local communities and the environment.

The Assembly, hosted by Avon River Champions and Bigbury Net Zero featured a distinguished line-up of speakers, including Caroline Voaden, MP for South Devon, Guy Singh Waston, Founder of Riverford, Nick Bruce-White CEO of Devon Wildlife Trust, Katrina Walker, Solicitor World Wildlife Fund Gary Jolliffe, CEO of Force4Nature, and Simon Browning, Technical Lead at The Rivers Trust.

Louise Wainwright, Chair of Avon River Champions, presented the BluePrint Project, which champions the formation of River Water Quality Groups linking up parish councils along the river valleys and the communities that live there. 

This is a call to action urging environment organisations and local communities to consider the practical solutions to pollution and take immediate local steps to protect Devon’s waterways. 

The BluePrint Project includes a pledge to achieve ‘good’ ecological status across Devon’s rivers by 2027, by achieving this on a myriad of small catchments across Devon. 

The primary goal is to fully-fund farmers to install Nature-based Solutions to both agricultural pollution and sewage overspills. Reed-beds, leaky dams, river buffer zones are amongst the many easy-to-install practical solutions to pollution which also bring local communities together as they support local farmers to get this done.

The Devon Rivers Manifesto will also challenge elected MPs to use their mandate to restore the budgets needed for farmers to afford to undertake Catchment Sensitive Farming, and for the Environment Agency to control the excesses of water companies and ensure they comply with their Discharge Permit.