London’s rivers have benefitted from an impressive transformation of around 62km of waterways restored since 2000 through initiatives such as wetland creation and reedbed installation, according to the organisers of London Rivers Week 2025.
The announcement comes ahead of this year’s London Rivers Week festival (Friday 30th May to Sunday 8th June) – an annual event aiming to inspire the public to help protect the capital’s waterways and celebrate them.
River restoration initiatives include projects such as adding wood material to a river to ‘naturalise’ it, removing concrete barriers from its banks, or reconnecting a river to its floodplain. Dedicated London volunteers have been crucial to the delivery of many of these projects.
London’s rivers are havens for wildlife and people, but they also face great challenges, including regular discharges of untreated sewage, run-off from busy roads and increasing plastic pollution. In this critical era of climate and biodiversity crises, the need to restore and enhance local rivers and reinstate their natural functions has never been more urgent. Healthy rivers are not only biodiversity hotspots, but also play a vital role in reducing the impacts of climate change.
The rewilding efforts benefit the environment and communities, through collaborative projects such as ‘Rewilding the Rom’, which reconnected the River Rom in Dagenham, East London, to its floodplain and created a new wetland for people and wildlife to enjoy; and the River Ravensbourne in Bromley which installed cobbles and gravel on the riverbed to enhance fish passage within this waterway.
London Rivers Week is organised by the London Rivers Week Steering Group on behalf of River Partnerships in London (RiPL), who produce these river restoration figures.
Chris Coode, CEO at environmental charity Thames21 – who helps coordinate the ‘Week’, said: “London Rivers Week is more than a celebration, it’s a platform to showcase the remarkable restoration efforts underway across the capital. While it’s vital to continue addressing pollution and sewage issues, the festival spotlights the innovative solutions and many benefits these projects already bring to both people and nature.
“We want to inspire hope and drive action, encouraging Londoners to connect with and protect their local blue spaces. We invite everyone to get involved in the many exciting events taking place throughout the week.”
