An innovative treatment works using the natural environment to clean metal-rich water from an abandoned mine has been opened in Cumbria. Funded by Defra, the Force Crag mine water treatment scheme needs no chemicals or power and will clean up a 6 mile stretch of river, preventing up to a tonne of metals, including zinc, cadmium and lead, from entering Bassenthwaite Lake each year. The concept was developed by Dr Adam Jarvis and his team at Newcastle University and delivered by the Coal Authority in partnership with the Environment Agency, the National Trust, the Lake District National Park Authority and others.

A new report - Natural Capital: Investing in a Green Infrastructure for a Future City – has been produced by London’s Green Infrastructure Taskforce. It identifies why this approach is increasingly necessary, and the changes to policy governance, valuation and funding that are needed to ensure long-term investment in London’s green infrastructure. Recommendations include the need to appoint a Green Infrastructure Commissioner; further refinement of the All London Green Grid; new approaches to revealing the economic value of green infrastructure; and working with others, such as the National Park City initiative, for example, to find better ways of engaging the public.