"Community-led Efforts Preserve UK's Historic River"
Citizen scientists, led by Pat Stirling, have been monitoring pollution levels in the River Wye, a historic river on the border between England and Wales. Their data has revealed a pollution problem caused mainly by chicken manure from intensive poultry units along the river. The river's water quality rating has been downgraded, and important species like Atlantic salmon and white-clawed crayfish have declined. Avara Foods, a chicken processing plant in the area, has pledged to change contracts to prevent the sale of manure within the Wye catchment area by 2025. The citizen scientists hope that their efforts and data will help save the river from further degradation.