WI members to protest at state of Wales' rivers at Senedd

Members of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI)-Wales will gather at the Senedd next week to mark WI Week of River Action and sound the alarm about the poor health of rivers in Wales.

The NFWI has a long track record of campaigning against pollution of rivers, watercourses, and seashore in Wales, dating back to the 1930s.

Currently, WI members are calling for urgent action from the government to strengthen regulators and fix the broken water system.

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Unacceptable

Jill Rundle, Chair of NFWI-Wales said: “It is unacceptable that less than half of rivers in Wales currently meet the criteria for good ecological status.

“Today we are inviting Members of the Senedd to join us on the steps of the Senedd to hear directly from WI members about their concerns about river pollution and to give their commitment to championing and protecting our rivers, including supporting the designation of more rivers as bathing waters.

“With rivers in a perilous state due to pollution from sewage, agriculture and a tide of plastic waste, we need to see all stakeholders - Welsh Government, UK Government, regulators, industries, and the wider public - redoubling their efforts to end to the scandal of river pollution.”

In May 2023 the WI launched its Clean Rivers campaign, which has seen WI members across the country take action to safeguard their local rivers including applying for bathing water statuses as a way to drive the clean-up and quality monitoring of rivers and carrying out “citizen science” water testing.

This year’s Week of River Action will take place between 16 and 22 September.