Geography in practice: assessing river condition for biodiversity net gain

The River Condition Assessment (RCA) forms part of Defra’s Biodiversity Metric. It is a professional application of geomorphological and ecological understanding of how rivers function. The RCA assigns short reaches of streams, rivers and canals to one of five condition classes (Good, Fairly Good, Moderate, Fairly Poor, Poor) based on a combination of field survey and desk-based computations.

This webinar will:

• Describe how the RCA method is based on geomorphological principles and is being applied by environmental consultants and river managers in association with development projects that affect streams, rivers and canals.

• It will consider several case study applications in the context of the Biodiversity Metric but will also illustrate broader applications of the RCA tool

• The talk will illustrate how the RCA tool can identify why a river is showing degraded form and function, track the impact of interventions designed to improve form and function, and describe the biogeomorphological trajectory of recovery following interventions. 

This webinar will be hosted by Professor Angela Gurnell, a geoscientist at Queen Mary University and has been arranged in conjunction with the British Society of Geomorphology.    

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