Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 79
79
Paragraph: 375
Citizen science should not be seen as an alternative to adequately funded environmental monitoring by...
Recommendation
Citizen science should not be seen as an alternative to adequately funded environmental monitoring by regulators but it should be encouraged and recognised. We recommend that the Environment Agency explore how best to support the contribution of citizen science to environmental regulation and to incorporate citizen science analysis in its work wherever possible and appropriate. The Environment 130 Water quality in rivers Agency should, for instance, consider how best to provide a publicly-available platform for citizen scientists to enter water quality readings in a way that would allow results to be verified by other users, regulators or companies.
Paragraph Reference:
375
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The Government welcomes the focus on citizen science and CaBA partnership monitoring. We encourage water companies to engage with CaBA partnerships and in some cases water companies support partnerships through funding. Even where this is not the case, we would expect that Environment Agency’s links to both the water industry and to catchment partnerships should ensure that citizen science data is taken into account in determining actions that need to be taken.