The Broads Society is a

waterway society A waterway society is a society, association, charitable trust, club, trust or "Friends" group involved in the restoration, preservation, use and enjoyment of waterways, e.g. a canal, river, navigation or other waterway, and their associated bu ...

in Norfolk and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England, UK. The society was founded in 1956 to provide a focus for anyone interested in the region, e.g. navigators, naturalists, farmers, residents and visitors. It campaigned in the 1960s and 1970s for special status for

The Broads The Broads (known for marketing purposes as The Broads National Park) is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Although the terms "Norfolk Broads" and "Suffolk Broads" are correctly use ...

, and in 1988 the area was given special protection, a status similar to that of a

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

after the passing of the Norfolk & Suffolk Broads Act 1988. Today the Broads Society has a membership of about 1200, and it monitors pressures on the unique Broads

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, as well as commenting on

planning application Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

s. It is represented on the

Broads Authority The Broads Authority is the agency which has statutory responsibility for the Broads in England. Originally, the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England), pressed for a special authority to manage the Broads which had been neglected for a ...

's Broads Forum. The Broads Society became a joint owner of the

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

sett at Candle Dyke which is the last working sett in the East of England. The Society's volunteers are known as "Broadsword"; they work during the winter months clearing trees and scrub from river banks. This encourages the re-colonisation of banks by

reedswamp A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

and helps maintains the unique environment found in Broadland. It also improves sailing conditions. The Mission Statement of the Broads Society is as follows: "Our members share a common purpose to help secure a sustainable future for The Broads as a unique and protected landscape in which leisure, tourism and the local economy can thrive in harmony with the natural environment".

References

External links

Broads Society
Clubs and societies in Norfolk Organisations based in Suffolk 1956 establishments in England Organizations established in 1956 {{UK-canal-stub

See also

References

External links