immersion
new perspectives on water and ecology
The final report for Immersion has now been completed -
Immersion: A Strategic Framework for Eco-recreation in British Waters delivers a unique perspective on the future of sustainable water recreation.
Essential reading for strategic organisations and others in the UK
whose work impinges on water environments. Drawing on major social and
ecological themes it:
Sets out the case for more sustainable leisure use of waterscapes in the UK.
Explores the major challenges for water ecologies in the 21st century.
Visions a radical new future for redundant lidos and pools as facilities for recreation, aquaculture and education
Contents
British waters – a cultural resource
Water and wellbeing
Wild swimming
Regeneration of coastal towns
Coastal access
The rise and fall of the lido
Environmental pressures on water habitats
Aquaculture
Climate change and water
Invasive non-native species
Regenerating British lidos
Sustainable freshwater aquaculture sites
Freshwater invasive/unwanted migrant species repositories
Sustainable marine aquaculture
Preliminary identification of marine sites
Marine invasive/unwanted migrant species repositories
Purpose built facilities/rapid response units to areas of need
Immersion sets out bring art,
architecture and ecology together to address some of these problems by
engendering new attitudes to British waters, particularly by attempting
to use the forces of leisure and recreation for the benefit of the
environment. The initial research phase has been achieved with with
funding from Gunpowder Park, scientific help from the Marine Institute
and National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth and in collaboration with
Childs Sulzmann architects.
Over the past ten years there has been an increasing recognition of the
importance of the value of the British landscape to the wellbeing of
the country’s population, over and above its traditional economic
value as farmland. The government’s commitment to making the
countryside open to all has been manifest in “Right to
Roam” legislation, and work such as the Council for the
Protection of Rural England’s study on tranquillity has
heightened awareness of the need to recognise both physical landscape
features and their metaphysical impact.
Marching alongside this rural renaissance have been, now mainstream,
environmental initiatives that enhance and preserve ecologically
sensitive habitats that everybody can enjoy.
However these successes now need to be extended to a forgotten part of
the land, its waters and seas, which remain feared, neglected and
sometimes actively despoiled by a significant majority.
In spite of the fact that 72% of the UK’s population visit the
coast each year a recent survey by Natural England suggests that people
in our country think our waters are terrifying, polluted and
unwelcoming and this attitude is mirrored in the environmental impacts.
Whilst we have cleaned up our beaches, and otters are returning to some
of our rivers there are still major issues to overcome:
≈ climate change, warming waters and threatening mass extinctions
≈ overfishing, threatening fishery collapse
≈ eutrophication (oxygen enrichment of sea water due to nitrate
run off from land based farming), causing species depletion
≈ invasive species imported into coastal waters, estuaries and rivers
≈ pollution from both land sources and shipping ending up as flotsam/jetsam
≈ threats to genetic diversity of wild fish stocks from mariculture.
Out of sight, out of mind. We must learn to appreciate our
watercourses, streams, culverts, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, rivers,
bays, estuaries, marshes and sea again if we, and the flora and fauna
we share Britain with, are to survive the inevitable changes to our
climate that are taking place. Just because we can’t see under
the rolling steel grey surface of the sea, or the rippling
river’s current, does not mean we don’t have a major impact
on what occurs there.
One major opportunity is our historic waterbased leisure estate.
According to www.lidos.org.uk 138 open air swimming pools of various
descriptions are still open, 28 of which are tidal. 22 more have been
closed over the past century but are thought to be reopenable. Add to
this the fact that the Marine Conservation Society believes that
climate change is now one of the greatest threats to our seas and
marine life along with overfishing and you have the opportunity to make
new learning places, 21st century pools that mix ecology and
fun.
"So now we have our comforts and
The water's always clear,
We've Rules and Regulations, too,
With penalties severe,
Within a nasty wooden hutch
Swimmers remove their clothes
Without a permit signed and sealed
A man can't blow his nose.
We can't do this; we can't do that,
The LCC say "No".
We can't dress here, we can't dress there,
In cages we must go.
The lake was built for honest men,
But we're becoming slaves.
The LCC rules swimmers though
Britannia rules the waves."
Charles Roskilly, South London Swimming Club, 1934, in Liquid Assets by Janet Smith
marine invasive/unwanted migrant species repositories
Some lido/tidal pool sites could be set
aside for marine invasive/unwanted migrant species repositories
operating on the same principles as an inland version. These could be
supplied by local fishermen from neighbouring ports and take as their
location areas in need of recreational facilities as part of
regeneration initiatives, for example Plymouth and Torbay. In addition
to non-native species, where appropriate, they could also display
northwardly migrating pelagic species.
Secure, reinforced chassis vehicles would also be needed to transfer
species from dock to facilities. These could also be used to take
examples of non-native species on outreach tours to beaches and towns
as a fully mobile unit.
Developed in a series of visioning
workshops, this concept design for a rapid response unit by architects
Childs Sulzmann responds to the need for a re-locatable Marine
invasive/unwanted migrant species repository. A large hollowed out
structure, the unit would be anchored off sites where infestations were
found as its incorporated flotation tanks would enable it to be towed
behind a vessel. The star shape facilitates drop off by fishing or
scientific vessels who could dock alongside in order to deposit catches
through the circular porthole access hatches on the top of the arms. A
side entrance to the unit would allow access into the interior chambers
for staff/members of the public at low tide, with access via a central
top hatch at high tide.
sustainable marine aquaculture
Seaside lidos and tidal pools offer the
chance to create new fish farms that would be significantly better in
terms of manageability, bio-security and protection of wild fish sites.
Located in seaside towns and village along the UK coast these would be
accessible and educational sites, promoting sustainable tourism and
encouraging the use of the coast path to the more far flung tidal pools.
