Catchment Partnerships

Thames21 supports healthy water environments for thriving wildlife and local communities through effective partnership and collaboration. Rivers across the UK are currently suffering from a wide range of pressures; pollution, loss of habitat, climate change and physical modifications.

Our rivers can be divided into catchments, which follow the natural flow and course of each river and its tributaries. River catchments are interconnected within the landscape and influence the local communities around them. Something that happens upstream in the catchment can affect the river downstream. Thames21’s work focuses on a holistic, collaborative approach to improving river health through the function of catchment partnerships.

Catchment partnerships, guided by the national Catchment Based Approach initiative, focus on viewing the river as a whole system and bring together relevant stakeholders to collaboratively identify and deliver river improvement projects at catchment-scale through nature based solutions, such as natural flood management, constructed wetlands, fish & eel passes, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), invasive species management and citizen science.

Thames21 hosts or co-hosts a total of ten catchment partnerships, located from Essex, across London to Berkshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Thames21 also currently chairs the River Partnerships in London (RiPL), which brings together all the catchment partnership hosts that operate within Greater London and provides a collective voice for London’s rivers. By bringing together a range of stakeholders, including eNGOS, local authorities, local community groups, statutory organisations, water companies and farmers we can collaboratively identify key issues, deliver nature-based solutions, whilst empowering local communities to champion and protect their local rivers.

Catchments Thames21 work in:

Thames21 are the sole catchment partnership hosts for the:

• Brent
• London Lea
• Maidenhead to Teddington
• Ravensbourne

Thames21 co-host the following catchment partnerships:

• Marsh Dykes & Thamesmead   – with London Wildlife Trust
• Roding, Beam and Ingrebourne (RBI)– with Thames Chase Trust
• South Essex – with Thames Chase Trust
• Your Tidal Thames – with Thames Estuary Partnership
• Cherwell and Ray   – with Berks, Barks and Oxon Wildlife Trust
• South Chilterns  – with Action for the River Kennet and Chilterns Chalk Stream Project

Thames21 are the current chair and member of: 

• River Partnerships in London (RiPL)