We are delighted to be embarking on a volunteer-led research project, in partnership with New Galloway and Kells Community Council, involving citizen science monitoring, tracking aquatic invertebrates and analysing water chemistry at sites on the water of Ken.
This project, based in New Galloway was developed in partnership with local residents, New Galloway and Kells Community Council, and the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Bioshpere, due to long-standing concerns from members of the community about the water quality and will be overseen by the Ken – Water Interest steering Group (KenWIG)
In the recently created Local Place Plan, Loch Ken water quality was identified as a priority issue.
This project aims to establish a community baseline on pollution sources and water quality and allow for constructive conversations with stakeholders.
This project is possible thanks to support from the RSE’s Healthy Planet, Healthy People catalyst award, in partnership with and funded by the Williamson Trust.
To date, a training session has been held with Tim from Ambleside Action and there has been a great interest from volunteers in the community.
It has been great to see so many members of the community keen to get involved with this project. Having volunteers directly involved in the sampling and analysing process gives a sense of ownership and has more impact than reading a report.
We would like to thank everyone who has volunteered their time so far.
The weekly sampling and analysing will take place from now until October. Look out for updates.
We will also be holding a training session on invertebrate sampling- date to be confirmed. Please register your interest by emailing Office@lochken.org.uk
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