Biosphere partners meet in Lewes to celebrate East Sussex rivers

Lewes District Council said The Living Coast is the only urban biosphere in the UK and said the meeting looked at local action to protect, restore and enhance rivers.

The council said the event was about ‘Our Rivers, the Adur and the Ouse’. Attendees heard how the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust, its partners and local communities are leading and supporting local initiatives like the Cockshut stream restoration and the Adur Recovery project, as well as work on the Winterbourne chalk stream.

The Living Coast recently shared plans to increase its size to include more than half a million residents.

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Councillor Emily O’Brien, cabinet member for Climate, Nature and Food Systems at Lewes District Council, said: “We’re really keen to incorporate the whole of Lewes district into the biosphere. With the amazing work that our communities are doing throughout, it doesn’t make sense to have a boundary up the middle. The internationally recognised biosphere is another way of working together in partnership to respond to the climate and nature crises we face, and something I’m really looking forward to our area playing a full role in.”

LDC said The Living Coast was designated a UNESCO Biosphere in 2014 and stretches from Shoreham to Newhaven, and from the South Downs to the sea.

A council spokesperson said: "The biospheres are places of international best practice, promoting sustainable development in nature conservation, cultural diversity and economic development. Now, the partnership is looking to expand the biosphere over the next decade from over 330,000 residents to nearly 550,000, embracing all of Adur and Worthing, Lewes district, and Brighton & Hove, bringing in Seaford in the east and Goring in the west. It is asking for widened geography for a greater impact and stronger collaboration with the biosphere’s three local authorities.”

The Living Coast partnership has now submitted a request to UNESCO to renew its designation for ten more years and expand its geography. People can see the report at thelivingcoast.org.uk. Its priorities for the future include promoting sustainability education and using the designation to promote a sense of local pride.