Welcome to Lakefly
Lakefly is an exciting new citizen science project helping communities across the UK to monitor the health of our lakes simply by collecting and identifying freshwater invertebrates.
Led by the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) in partnership with Natural England, and funded through Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme, Lakefly empowers volunteers to survey freshwater invertebrates, tiny creatures that live in the shallow margins of lakes and provide important clues about water quality.
Using a simple sampling method and easy-to-learn identification guide, Lakefly volunteers collect valuable data that can help detect pollution, track ecological changes, and support better management of our freshwater ecosystems.
Lakefly hopes to engage Citizen Scientists with lakes, by offering an invertebrate sampling method that is widely accessible.
Why lakes?
Unlike rivers, most lakes in the UK aren’t regularly monitored, especially smaller or remote ones. Yet lakes play a vital role in our environment, providing clean water, supporting biodiversity, and offering places for recreation and reflection.
Lakefly is designed to fill this monitoring gap by combining science and community action. Whether you're an experienced Riverfly monitor or a complete beginner, Lakefly gives you the tools and training to make a meaningful contribution.
What is Lakefly?
Lakefly is based on a simple idea: trained volunteers collect and identify lake invertebrates from the shoreline, then submit their findings through a national recording system. This information helps scientists detect early signs of lake pollution and degradation, providing an “early warning” system that can support conservation and management.
The method has been adapted from successful professional and citizen-led river monitoring programmes like Riverfly, making it accessible to people with no prior scientific experience.
We’re currently working with partner groups for the pilot year and we’ll be expanding soon. If you're part of a conservation group, local community, or simply love lakes and want to help, please get in touch to register your interest.
Pilots now underway
In 2025, we’re running a pilot phase of the Lakefly project across England. Volunteer groups are being trained and supported to sample lake invertebrates once a month between July and December.
These pilots will help us refine the Lakefly method, test training resources, and shape the project ahead of a national launch in 2026.
How can people get involved?
Currently, the project is in the middle of a comprehensive pilot phase and no more training events are planned, however we anticipate Lakefly going ‘live’ in Spring 2026.
Individuals or organisations interested in joining future training can register their interest via the Lakefly email (lakefly@fba.org.uk). New training opportunities will be announced in early spring 2026.
Lakefly aims to provide a simple, standardised monitoring technique for sampling macro invertebrates in lakes. To date, very little has been done on freshwater invertebrates in lake environments, and Lakefly hopes to fill this gap in the data. Lakefly will allow us to collect presence and abundance data on a range of freshwater invertebrates and this data will allow us to monitor changes occurring in lakes over time.
Find out more about Lakefly and explore useful resources
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Lakefly Volunteer Online Training
This short online course will introduce you to the Lakefly project, the freshwater invertebrates we monitor, and prepare you for your in-person training.
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Lakefly Data Recording Form
Once you have completed your Lakefly monitoring, please use our online form to upload all your data from your Lakefly survey and submit your records.
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Lakefly Resources
Please visit our Lakefly resources page to download the freshwater invertebrates ID guide plus additional guidance to support your Lakefly monitoring.