Lobbying, Collaboration & Advocacy

Standing up for the health of the River Axe and her tributaries requires more than just monitoring – it takes an active, constructive voice at every level.

Through lobbying and advocacy, Friends of the River Axe (FORA) works to ensure our catchment’s ecology is protected, restored, and prioritised in policy and planning. By bringing real data, community evidence, and frontline river health observations straight to regulators, councils, and water providers, we turn local citizen science into meaningful accountability and environmental action.

Real progress across a whole river catchment cannot happen in isolation. True recovery relies on genuine collaboration. We actively work side-by-side with local farmers, land managers, statutory bodies like the Environment Agency, local authorities, and grassroots networks like CAG Devon. Whether we are driving campaign initiatives like SPEAR (Sewage Pollution Elimination in the Axe Rivers) or promoting nature-based flood management, our approach is always grounded in practical, respectful, and solution-focused partnership.

Rivers ignore administrative boundaries, and so do we. We maintain strong connections with our neighboring sister river groups across the borderlands of East Devon, West Dorset, and South Somerse – sharing findings, pooling expertise, and building a united regional voice for river restoration. We are always eager to forge new partnerships with local community groups, researchers, schools, and land stewards. If you share our vision for a thriving, resilient River Axe, we would love to collaborate.