New River Discovery Zone raises awareness of river pollution at Devon County Show 2024
The River Discovery Zone is coming to the Devon County Show for the first time in 2024.
It will be a biennial feature and is designed to showcase the endeavours of Devon landowners, farmers, national environment, organisations, businesses, and community groups, working to improve the health of our rivers and restore wildlife habitat.
The Zone has been curated by South Devon River Champion, Louise Wainwright. Commenting, she said: ‘Pollution of our rivers and the loss of wildlife habitat is of serious concern throughout Devon. HM Government has determined that all rivers will achieve Good Ecological Status by 2040. Only 21% of our rivers in Devon are achieving this status. The River Discovery Zone will show Devon County Show visitors of all ages what is being done, and what more can be done to protect these waterways.’
The River Discovery Zone will be located in a Clearspan marquee and will feature a number of compelling attractions designed to engage visitors. Whaley the Whale, a sculpture designed by partners in the River Discovery Zone Project, ‘Till the Coast is Clear', is half the size of a real-life sperm whale, extending with its tail to 10 metres. ‘Till the Coast is Clear' is a South Devon based community project devoted to cleaning up river estuaries and coastlines and has recovered over 25 tons of pollution. Much of the plastic is taken to a depot where it is sorted for recycling but some of the detritus is saved for Whaley’s’ stomach so he can act as a powerful symbol for pollution as he travels on a trailer around the county highlighting the scale of the problem & some of the solutions.
The marquee will also feature an area for story telling on Saturday – River Reflections Corner - where visitors can perch upon haybales and immerse themselves in river myths and folk tales narrated by professional story tellers from South Devon. Commenting on this feature of the Zone, Louise said: “The purpose of the stories is to help listeners to connect with the meanings and values of rivers on our lives and introduce some of the magical river creatures from dragons and monsters to magical fish and faerie folk”.
Visitors will also be able to respond to the Devon River Manifesto, devised by South Devon River Champions by voting on their priorities for our next elected government. The prioritised river actions will be brought together at the end of the show in an illustrated manuscript and presented to all MPs in Devon.
“If you can’t find the River Discovery Zone, we’ll find you, concluded Louise. Look out for the ‘Heralds’ of the River who will be wearing flowing capes with appliqued motifs of wildlife who will be wandering around the show and directing you to the Zone on the showground. You can’t miss them!”
