Sportfiskarna is committed to teaching children the value of nature conservation. Each year, the angling association takes around 12,000 children to a body of water near the school to show them what they can do to protect aquatic biodiversity. In total, more than 45,000 children participate in different types of nature and fishing activities with the association every year - Pictures
In Sweden, many anglers’ clubs clean up their fishing grounds, carry out nature restoration work and generally take care of the waters. All this in their spare time and without getting paid for this: they just know how much their favourite hobby relies on the health of waters and fish stocks.
Anglers also firmly believe in the importance of sharing their concern for aquatic ecosystems. This is why, in Sweden, Sportfiskarna organises school classes in the frame of the national "skolbäcken" (school stream) project, run by 13 of the 70 people who are part of the organisation.
"The best we can do is teach children about all the life that can be found in a small stream or along the banks" says Hanna Eriksson, National Director for the youth programs at Sportfiskarna. " Its trough activities like this, where kids get to help us carry out the environmental work that we hope to create a feeling of responsibility for our nature. If children then go home and tell their parents that we humans have made so many mistakes, with pollution, overfishing and the demolition of small trout streams, then we have succeeded and hopefully the next generation will be more careful about nature."
To be able to carry out these and many other
monitoring activities, the EU anglers’ associations need to continue being able
to access all areas – and in particular protected areas. See our position and our event report on the Nature Restoration Law currently
being decided by the EU decision-makers.