THE problems facing Exmoor’s rivers, and ways of fighting contamination and pollution will be tackled by a panel of top experts at a national spring conference organised by the Exmoor Society and Exmoor National Park Authority, to be held at Winsford Village Hall on May 9.

An Exmoor Society spokesperson said: “This year we are diving into the theme ‘The Waters of Exmoor’ and are hoping for discussion and input from the audience and are hoping that people with an active interest in and knowledge of our rivers will join us.

“This is the year of our ‘Waters of Exmoor’ campaign and the conference will be where we draw together all the projects we will be working on in 2025.”

The speakers and panellists at the conference will include Sir Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at Oxford University, an authority on building sustainable economies despite the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, and Alistair Boxall, professor of environmental science at York University, who will be warning about the risks of chemical contamination.

Professor Charles Foster, Fellow of Exeter College Oxford and author of best-selling books on natural history, will explain the journey of salmon up the River Exe.

While teaching medical law and ethics at Oxford, he is also a qualified veterinary surgeon.

He said: “All my books are an attempt to answer the question: ‘What on earth are we doing here?’”

Other speakers are Toby Diggens, a Devon farmer, landscape architect, and conservationist, who specialises in ecological restoration, and Dr Rose O’Neill, now chief executive of the Campaign for National Parks, after a career in environmental campaigning and policy research.

Chief Executive of the Rivers Trust, Mark Lloyd, will also speak and act as panel moderator.

Ticket booking will open at the beginning of April via the website www.exmoorsociety.com.