Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond has joined the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Chalk Streams to help protect the internationally recognised natural resource.
Flick is one of 25 MPs and peers to join the group, which held its inaugural virtual meeting earlier this month.
The UK is home to 85% of the world’s chalk streams but many are under threat from water abstraction and pollution from agricultural runoff.
The APPG will promote the interests of the streams to champion their biodiversity through promoting environmental good practice, centred on sustainable flows and sensitive land management.
“My constituency has one of these incredible chalk streams running right through its heart and I will be a passionate supporter in protecting the River Meon and other Hampshire rivers too like the Itchen and Test,” said Flick.
“The job of this APPG is to ensure ministers and other organisations, like the Environment Agency, understand the issues facing the nation’s chalk streams and how we must protect these rare ecosystems both nationally and internationally.”
