Atlantic Salmon are a keystone species meaning they are critical to the healthy functioning of ecosystems. These fish undertake an extraordinary life journey: hatching in freshwater rivers, migrating downstream to the sea to feed as adults, and then making an epic return journey upstream to their birthplace to spawn and renew the cycle. By migrating between these distant aquatic habitats, salmon transport nutrients between our oceans and rivers. For this reason, the health of salmon populations is a key indicator of the health of both rivers and oceans.

Although we are not fortunate enough to have salmon in the Thame (or indeed in the wider Thames, despite reintroduction programmes in the 1970s and 1990s which attempted to restore self-sustaining wild salmon populations), the species does provide an excellent basis for exploring a range of issues around health and impacts upon rivers and wider ecosystems. Additionally, the salmon’s close relative the brown trout is present in the Thame catchment, meaning that much of the project is also relateable to the Thame through brown trout. Atlantic salmon and brown trout are both able to migrate from freshwater and saltwater oceans and have similar habitat requirements. Both species need cold, clean water in free-flowing rivers, something that has become more scarce after centuries of human modification, pollution and now climate change.

Not only are salmon important to our understanding of the health of rivers and oceans here in the UK, but they also can tell a story about the health of the aquatic environments across the globe. These iconic fish highlight how all of us are globally interconnected by the issues plaguing salmon populations and aquatic ecosystems worldwide. The dire state of wild salmon populations is what led Amerian-based artist Joseph Rossano to launch The Salmon School an international initiative that brings together communities using both art and science to inspire and educate others about the need for a thriving future for wild salmon.

The River Thame Conservation Trust has joined five other Rivers Trusts in the Thames basin to pilot the Thames Salmon School project, in partnership with the Thames Rivers Trust, The Rivers Trust and The Missing Salmon Alliance. As part of this pilot, RTCT is working with Stocklake Park School, a Special Educational Needs (SEN) school in Aylesbury, to establish the first Salmon School in the River Thame catchment.

Over the course of three interactive sessions, the students at Stocklake Park are learning about salmon anatomy, their impressive life cycle and what healthy ecosystems are required to save declining salmon populations. The sessions are held both in the classroom and outside on the river and the students engage in a variety of art and science activities to increase their knowledge and appreciation for their local river and its wildlife.

Students had the opportunity to visit their local watercourse, the Bear Brook, and become citizen scientists. After donning waders and learning how to use nets to kick-sample, the students got to interact close up with the variety of aquatic “mini-beasts” who call the Bear Brook home. Using identification keys the students discerned the many different types of invertebrate creatures they had captured and learned how scientists use data on the abundance and diversity of these aquatic animals to understand the health of rivers.

Because not all wildlife in and around our rivers is so easily caught in nets, the students also took environmental DNA or eDNA samples. Students learned how genetic information from animals is constantly being shed into the environment and scientists can collect this “dust” of a species in a water sample to get a picture of what lives there.

Throughout each session, the students have also created art inspired by their local river. Using a variety of materials, including things like leaves and feathers found outside, the students created depictions of the river and the plants and animals they were learning about. During the riverside session, one of the teachers remarked how pleased she was to see a student who normally struggles to participate in art activities fully engaged in drawing some of the aquatic invertebrates they had just caught. “This is fantastic, he normally won’t draw and usually will just copy the other students when he does. It’s great to see him drawing something on his own”. Working with SEN school has been a particularly rewarding endeavour, giving a group of students who might be less likely to participate in this type of outdoor educational programme.

The students at Stocklake Park School are now eagerly awaiting the final classroom session where we will reveal the results of their eDNA samples. The school will also receive artwork from Joseph Rossano and his artist team. A digital piece of artwork visualising the eDNA results will go live on The Salmon School website and act as an educational tool and visual representation of the biodiversity in their local river. The school will also receive a special gift, a handmade blown glass sculpture representing an Atlantic salmon. The glass sculpture was created in a studio in America with the help of another classroom of children and has travelled all the way across the pond to link these two groups of students together, becoming like a school of fish. The international nature of the project illustrates to students how our efforts to improve rivers grow stronger when we act collectively.

After the completion of the pilot, our goal is work with our partners to continue delivering the Thames Salmon School and hopefully expand to even more schools. By teaching young people about the cultural and ecological importance of salmon, the link between cold, clean water and salmon survival, and the interconnection between humans and nature, we aim to inspire the next generation of river conservationists.

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