We’ve got a few of keen lake swimmers in the Fell team so we were really interested to hear from our partner South Cumbria Rivers Trust about their bio security initiative; Check, Clean Dry.
In all honesty, we hadn’t thought about the implications of moving between bodies of water and previously wouldn’t have thought twice about wearing damp wet shoes in a river one day and a lake the next. In reality, by doing this, we were putting the fragile freshwater habitats that we swim in at risk by potentially introducing invasive hitchhikers into bodies of water they wouldn’t usually be found.
The Check, Clean, Dry campaign aims to prevent the spread of these invasive non-native species between areas and subsequently stop the substantial damage they can do to the fragile ecosystems found in Cumbria.
It’s a simple message:
Check – all your equipment and clothing for living organisms and plants fragments.
Clean – and wash all your equipment, clothing and footwear thoroughly. Do this either onsite where you’ve been in the water or once your home on a hard or grass area away from water sources.
Dry – completely dry out all kit and equipment before going to a new area.
By following these steps we can help to stop the spread of invasive aquatic species between the ponds, lakes, tarns and rivers found in Cumbria and ensure that they are protected for generations to come.
Fell are supporting South Cumbria Rivers Trust through the sales of Ghyll beer. For every pint sold, we donate 5pm to SCRT. To date that’s £1728 since April of this year. SCRT will be hosting a talk at Fell Kendal in the next few months so look out for details on this event coming soon. It’ll be well worth attending to learn more about what this organisation is doing to help maintain and improve the waterways in Cumbria.
For more information on SCRT’s Check, Clean, Dry campaign, check out their website.
