Catchment Based Approach

The notion that rivers should be managed in conjunction with the land they flow through, known as their catchment, is a deeply rooted principle in river conservation.

In order to effectively manage a river, we must also manage the activities taking place in the surrounding catchment area, such as agriculture, water abstraction, and urbanisation. This strategy has been backed by the UK government through the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) which “embeds collaborative working at a river catchment scale, delivering a range of environmental, social and economic benefits and protecting our precious water environments for the benefit of us all.”

At River Thame Conservation Trust, we are championing this approach throughout our activities. A number of our core initiatives and projects directly contribute to delivering landscape-scale improvements in the catchment through collaborative working.