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Angling Trust Campaigns & Environment Impact Report 2025

Angling Trust's 2025 Campaigns & Environment Impact Report shows angler-led citizen science reshaping the future of UK waters: more than 800 volunteers now monitor 80 catchments across all four nations, collecting over 10,000 water samples and exposing pollution that would otherwise stay hidden.

Report snapshot
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About

Angling Trust is the national governing body for angling in England, campaigning for healthy waters, thriving fish populations and sustainable angling. Its angler-led Water Quality Monitoring Network, partnerships with research bodies and advocacy work defend rivers, lakes and coastal waters across all four UK nations.

Key Metrics

Volunteer monitors More than 800 volunteers now monitor 80 catchments across all four UK nations through the angler-led Water Quality Monitoring Network.
Samples collected Over 10,000 water samples collected, with 34% failing phosphate standards and 45% failing for nitrates.
Estuary expansion Water Quality Monitoring Network expanded into estuaries in 2025, with a Ribble estuary pilot gathering 180 samples and replication across seven more estuaries.
Reducing fish mortality 85 descending devices supplied to skippers through the Pollack Pact initiative to reduce fish mortality.

Key Outcomes

  • 10,000+ angler-collected samples exposed phosphate and nitrate pollution across 80 catchments.
  • Evidence submitted to the Independent Water Commission and fisheries management plans shaped.

Geography

UK-Wide

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
5,999 active volunteers contributed 776,242 hours in 2025/26
Key Metric 2
137 winter maintenance projects across 45 canals; 109 lock gates replaced
Key Metric 3
101,640 children participated in Explorers/STEM outdoor learning, including 67,896 water-safety participants
Over 80% of the network kept fully open despite drought.
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
The Eco-Schools programme reached over 1.4 million pupils, with 2,162 schools awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
326,000 volunteers pledged to the Great British Spring Clean, picking up 425,626 bags of rubbish, supported by 288 local authorities and parish councils
Key Metric 3
2,227 Green Flag Awards given to parks and green spaces in the UK; 151 beaches given a Blue Flag and/or Seaside Award
98.3% of educators felt the Eco-Schools programme significantly supports young people's development of 'green skills'
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
First known breeding success of spoonbills in the Norfolk Broads in around 400 years, recorded at Hickling Broads and Marshes
Key Metric 2
Over 60 nature reserves managed across Norfolk, with land owned or managed for wildlife exceeding 5,000 hectares
Key Metric 3
1,500 volunteers helped protect wildlife across the county during the year
New urban nature reserve co-designed with the local community, expanding accessible green space in Norfolk
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
61,819 native oysters deployed across UK restoration projects in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
15,064 people participated in the Beachwatch beach clean programme, submitting 1,256 litter surveys — the highest in the programme's 31-year history
Key Metric 3
17,613 young people engaged through in-person or online youth programme sessions
£11.5 billion Ofwat investment package secured for storm overflow cuts in England and Wales following sustained MCS advocacy