The River Ebble is a chalk stream, which flows through the beautiful farmed landscape of the Chalke Valley in Wiltshire on its journey to join the River Avon near Salisbury. In this short film, Jess Brooks from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust meets several farmers who are members of the Chalke Valley Farmer Cluster and the pioneering Environmental Farmers Group (EFG). The EFG is an exciting new farmer co-operative based in the South of England that facilitates access to environmental schemes and aims to deliver better water quality and wildlife habitat through natural capital trading. The GWCT plays a key role in supporting and convening the EFG.
Farmers Andrew Reis, Matthew Pickford and Ben Jeans explain why the river is important to them, what conservation they have been doing themselves and together with the Wessex Rivers Trust, and speak about future opportunities. They hope other farmers in the EFG and beyond will follow in their footsteps and make full use of advice, agri-environment schemes and natural capital trading to help protect the region’s rivers, which are cultural icons and important ecosystems in their own right.