Earlier this month, Three Rivers District Council held their first Environmental Champions Awards ceremony to recognise local people as eco-heroes for their meaningful work to advance sustainability and environmental protection in the area.

The awards, which took place at Watersmeet Theatre on Thursday 4 June, were attended by councillors, council officers, community leaders, as well as the award finalists, who were selected by a panel of independent judges from community and environmental organisations.

The Trust’s Conservation Manager, Tim Hill nominated the Friends of Stocker’s Lake (FoSL), who went on to win The Community Environmental Champion Award. The award recognises their long-standing commitment to protect Stockers Lake Nature Reserve’s wildlife and their encouragement of public engagement with nature. 

Here’s what Tim Hill had to say,

“Stockers Lake is a wetland nature reserve located within the Colne Valley, to the south of Rickmansworth, adjacent to the Aquadrome. The variety of wetland habitats includes open water, marsh, woodland and flower-rich grasslands. The reserve is a key refuge for water birds in the Colne Valley, providing habitat for the largest heronry in Hertfordshire. During winter the lake supports significant populations of wildfowl including Shoveler, Pochard and Tufted Duck. Stockers Lake is a peaceful haven for people too, freely open to visitors all day throughout the year, where nature can be experienced close-up.

Friends of Stocker’s Lake (FoSL) is a registered charity, founded in 1990 to conserve, safeguard and enhance Stocker's Lake as a local nature reserve and to foster public support for, and appreciation of, Stocker's Lake as a special place for wildlife. FoSL is supported by 700 members from Three Rivers district and beyond.

Working in collaboration with the owners of Stockers Lake Nature Reserve, Affinity Water, and the managers of the nature reserve, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, FoSL provides the opportunity for local people to contribute, through volunteering, to care for this nature reserve of county importance. FoSL organises monthly work parties which cover all sorts of different activities including scrub clearance, hide maintenance, path repairs, litter clearance and hedge-laying. They also contribute to the ecological monitoring of the reserve by carrying out butterfly and wildflower surveys. This volunteering provides known benefits to both physical and mental health.

Using a combination of external grants and FoSL’s own funds, the group contributes to the restoration and management of three wildflower meadows on the reserve. Every year the group pays for the grazing of cattle on the meadows, an essential part of management which is resulting in increased variety and numbers of wildflowers in the meadows. This management is also re-wilding the soils, increasing organic matter and root structure which results in greater sequestration of carbon, thus combating climate warming.

FoSL has planted thousands of trees at the reserve, creating new hedgerows which not only provide new habitats for nature but provide essential natural corridors for animals to move through this part of the Colne Valley. The group has also funded the building and installation of special rafts on the lake on which migratory Common Terns nest each summer.

In 2018 FoSL initiated a project to enable those unable to visit Stockers Lake to experience the theatre of the nesting Grey Herons and Little Egrets on an island at Stockers Lake. Again, using their own funds they have established a camera overlooking the heronry and provides a 'livestream' of nesting birds, showing close-up views of courtship, egg laying, incubation, hatching, feeding of chicks through to fledging. This is a pioneering project and provides people with the opportunity to enjoy and experience something that would otherwise be impossible.

To introduce local people to the nature of Stockers Lake, FoSL also organises and leads a diverse programme of public events throughout the year. Guided walks focus on the habitats and species of the nature reserve such as dragonflies, butterflies, birds and wildflowers. In addition, FoSL has a round-up of wildlife sightings on its website and has produced annual reports of butterflies seen on the reserve.

FoSL maintains its own website dedicated to its activities and it also provides valuable information to help potential visitors plan a trip to Stockers Lake - fosl.org.uk

In summary, the work of the Friends of Stockers Lake champions the environmental significance of what is recognised as the most important nature reserve in Three Rivers district. They provide opportunities for people to experience, enjoy and learn about its nature directly through guided walks, or remotely through their pioneering livestreaming of the heronry. Not only this but the efforts of their members directly contribute to conserving the habitats of the reserve and in so doing help those species which depend on those habitats such as Grey Herons, Water Voles, dragonflies and butterflies. In so doing they are also contributing to the delivery of Hertfordshire's recently published Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

I have worked with FoSL for over 21 years. In my view, the Friends of Stockers Lake are outstanding environmental champions for both the wildlife and people of Three Rivers District and worthy of recognition for their amazing efforts over so many years.”

Congratulations to all at FoSL from everyone here at the Trust, and a big well done to all the award finalists.

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