WILDLIFE watchers in the Mersey Basin are being urged to turn detecive in a massive drive to find out how clean the area's streams, rivers and canals are.
The Mersey Basin Campaign is asking for reports of sightings of kingfishers, dragonflies and damselflies, species which need clean water to survive.
The survey started on May 1 and will run through to September 30. The information will be used to plot where water quality is best and where it has improved over the last 13 years. The results will be compared to a similar campaign in 1995.
Said Mersey Basin Trust Director Tony Jones: "Kingfishers and dragonflies are excellent indicators of clean water. We want people out walking along rivers, streams and canals to help us to build up a picture of where water is cleanest."
Sightings can be reported by filling in a reply card available in local libraries or from the Mersey Basin Trust on 0161-228-6924.
The survey is taking place in the whole of the campaign area which covers Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, South Lancashire and the High Peak in Derbyshire.
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