Property:Project summary
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This is a property of type Text.
R
With funding from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Spey Catchment Initiative took measures to improve habitat for fish and other aquatic biodiversity in the River Calder near Newtonmore. Poor salmonid juvenile productivity had been linked to sub-optimal substrate and sediment processes. As there is very little riparian woodland along the river, Large Wood Structures (LWS) were installed to mimic natural dead wood and kickstart hydro-morphological processes to increase natural erosion and deposition, encouraging formation of higher quality, more diverse habitats in the channel and potentially providing water quality enhancements.
During August 2020 a total of 29 structures formed from locally harvested, whole trees from a nearby windblown plantation, were secured into the river bed or banks at carefully chosen locations along approximately 1.6 km of the Calder. Medial and bar apex structures were constructed where the river was showing signs of partially formed features. Cbec eco-engineering were contracted to do the initial survey and design, and local contractors G Campbell did the groundworks.
To make the improvements sustainable in the long term, the Spey Catchment Initiative is also creating over 22ha of new riparian woodland covering both banks and encompassing the LWS reach and an area further upstream. Low density planting of native species and anticipated regeneration will hopefully ensure an on-going natural source of dead wood input, as well as providing habitat and NFM benefits. +
E
Environmental Restoration of the Lower Section of the Bembézar River and its River Environment (Phase 1) +
With the aim of reorienting development towards sustainability, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment has become aware of the importance of recovering the beds and banks of our rivers, and as a result has designed the National Strategy for Restoration of Rivers, a project that aims to recover river masses. It is a question of giving back to the river what was its own, its space, its vegetation, its water..., so that by itself it is capable of recovering its associated ecosystem.
And following the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, approved in December 2000 and obligatory for the Spanish State, the objective is to ensure that rivers and streams recover their "good ecological status", and to make all administrative uses and actions compatible with the conservation of their natural values. The implementation of the National Strategy for the Restoration of Rivers is based on debate and consensus. We have sought the maximum participation of representatives of all entities of society to have the approval of all.
The objective of this project is the environmental restoration of the lower stretch of the Bembézar River and its surroundings, which also includes the final stretch of its tributary, the Guadalora stream and the Madre Vieja river corridor (the former arm of the Guadalquivir that joins the Bembézar).
The lower section of the Bembézar River is surrounded by extensive irrigated land that uses its waters through the hydraulic infrastructures created in its basin (reservoirs, canals and irrigation systems). It is thus a heavily regulated river, with three reservoirs upstream of this stretch, so that the recovery of it to its natural state is unfeasible. On the other hand, it is affected by important infrastructures that cross its course. The AVE trains tracks limit the lower section to the north and half of the section is crossed by the Seville-Cordoba railway and the Seville-Cordoba road (A-431).
The project carries out actions to improve the natural environment through the cleaning of the riverbed and the restoration of autochthonous riverside vegetation; integration actions in a fluvial space, such as the construction of a pedestrian path and a footbridge over the river; and the conditioning of infrastructures for public use through the cleaning of vegetation from the existing Medieval Bridge in the Bembézar riverbed.
P
With the combined resources of Biffaward and the Brecon Beacons Trust, a project to work in the middle Usk started on 1st Jan 2011. Rather unusual geographic limits are attached to PURR: Biffaward is a landfill tax fund that allows activity within a radius of 10 miles of a landfill site, in this case near Felinfach, Brecon, while the geographic constraint of the Beacons Trust is the Park boundary itself. Thankfully they overlap quite conveniently and allow work from Sennybridge to Crickhowell and include the upper reaches of the Monnow tributary, the Honddu. The required landfill tax contribution was made with donations from Usk owners and anglers and the project was scheduled to last for two years.
So far we have completed habitat restoration on the following:
1.7km of the Menasgin at Llanfrynach
0.45km of the Rhiangoll, near Crickhowell
1.1km of the Upper Grwyne Fawr
1.2 km of the Monnow Honddu
The habitat team have also cut trees and pleaching in brash on the Caerfanell between Aber and the junction with the Usk.
We have also completed two fish passes on the Crawnon and two modifications to weirs on the Caerfanell are planned for summer 2012. Restoring salmon access to the Crawnon has been an ongoing project that started in 2006 and it was satisfying to see a large salmon redd in late December, 4 miles above British Waterways’ canal off-take weir. Over the next few years this high quality tributary will become an important salmon nursery area for the Usk.
Finally, this project has also continued with the work to eradicate Japanese knotweed from the middle reaches of the Usk. +
A
Austria/Slovenia Urban River Landscape - ETZ-“Skupaj“ - Joint urban and natural development at the Mur banks in Gornja Radgona and Bad Radkersburg +
Within the program "Europäische Territoriale Zusammenarbeit" (ETZ) a bilateral austrian - slovenian design competition has been conducted in 2008 which aimed at bringing the districts of Bad Radkersburg and Gornja Radgona back together again.
Due to political circumstances Gornja Radgona and Bad Radkersburg, a fused urban organism until the First World War, are today two separate cities. In the united Europe the ETZ project Skupaj offered the chance to highlight the similarities between the cities and to push forward the long-term development of the reunited city and the surrounding region in terms of their complementary nature and different activities. The project and the implementation of the activities foster that the cities can emphasize their common roots and shared values and introduce themselves as reunited city.
After the project’s completion the cities will be connected landscape-architecturally and reunited spatially via their city gates. The objective was the joint spatial and urban planning with an immediate impact on the natural and urban areas along the Mur.
Residents and visitors can then get in direct contact with the river. Thus the river serves as an important development potential of the demographically vulnerable region. +
S
Work included educating the community on environmental protection and promoting environmentally-friendly behaviour. +
T
Work on the Pow Beck will revolve around mitigation of diffuse agricultural pollution, more specifically nutrient and sediment loss from the farming system. The first phase of the project will be based around engaging the farming community on the Pow Beck and providing a range of workshops that inform them about diffuse pollution and the work that can be done to address it through the project.
The project will then seek to address issues through a number of methods working in conjunction with the farm business.
The work involved includes improving farm infrastructure or installing riverbank fencing and planting trees. The project is also changing the working practices of businesses in the area by using GPS equipment to improve the accuracy of fertiliser spreading and offering machinery to help reduce the amount of soil compaction.
The project therefore aims to take a whole farm approach to diffuse pollution reduction. +
B
Work undertaken:
*Weir notching,
*raise water level in boating lake to restore side channel,
*narrowing to clean gravels,
*creation of reed bed,
*planting,
*tree work,
*bank reprofiling,
*more works proposed. +
Work undertaken:<br>
- Wetland habitat creation<br>
- reedbed and lake creation<br>
- on-going monitoring<br>
- access and amenity, visitors centre.<br>
Housing development provided the opportunity to create major new wetland habitat on the site of former waterworks. The new centre is a good example of how the development and planning process can lead to habitat enhancement on a significant scale. The 43 hectare London Wetland Centre is the best urban site in Europe to watch wildlife, an international award winning visitor attraction and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).<br>
View the Map of the site here - https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%272000457%27 +
C
Work was considerable, affecting about 65% of the channel within a stretch of c300m. Work was undertaken to create greater diversity of habitat by modifying both the long and cross-sections (formation of pools and fast ‘run’ habitat); narrow the channel to improve self-cleansing of the bed and thus reduce sand and silt deposition as well as ‘weed’ growth in the future; improve the landscape quality of the area by replacing the unsightly deflectors with ‘living’ features that would do a more effective job than the deflectors were attempting to do. This section of river has more gradient than the other two sites, and this tended to recede on passing downstream. In habitat terms it primarily suffers badly from historic widening, and attempts to narrow it with deflectors have been generally ineffectual due to the inability of marginal plants to encroach and become firmly established – some deflectors have, however, established some habitat diversity.
The key to being able to carry out the works as desired was the presence of large patches of sedge (Carex acutiformis) and reed (Phalaris arundinacea). In several places the river was narrowed by over 4m simply by transferring large ‘sods’ of sedges; these imports were placed within the inside the existing bank, and will now form the new bank. In the upstream straight section to the first bend, three pools and upstream deflectors were created. As the bed of the newly created two downstream pools of this sequence (photos 2-5) had flinty-gravel present, this was sprinkled on the bed of the narrowed channel upstream to accentuate the improved speed of flow into the pools, and improve the habitat variability within the reach. Material dug from pools to form the upstream shoulders that narrowed the channel were blinded by sedge/reed from the adjacent field. These features were enlarged by further sedge/reed sods. +
Working with Stadco Llanfyllin under the River Friendly Severn project, we have identified possible habitat works on their site. The partial weir removal was part of a project which included bird boxes, bat boxes and some work to improve the maintenance of a SUDS. +
H
Working with Wandle Piscators and the Environment Agency, 39 metres of coir rolls were installed at Hackbridge to soften the concrete bank edge. Works were completed with 34 local volunteers. +
P
Works include implementing Phitodepuration buffer zones. +
C
Creation of spawning ground for Baltic salmon, anadromous brown trout and river lamprey at Veneküla rapid, river Pirita +
Works included: Breaking the bedrock (>100m3), placing spawning gavel (>110 m3) to the created pool and placing large boulders around the created spawning ground to provide shelter for the fish. +
M
Year three of a five year project to work towards improving the ecological status of all the tributaries of the Mid Swale between Richmond and Beadle +
R
Year two of a three year project, it aims to address sediment and nutrient inputs into five tributaries if the River Wharfe to improve WFD status +
I
INTERREG MED WETNET - Memoradum on Participation in Wetland Conservation in Ljubljansko Barje Nature Park +
ZRC SAZU held a series of participatory events from September 2018 to April 2019 involving various stakeholders, including: representatives of ministries, landowners, farmers, representatives of non-governmental organizations and scientific institutions. At the first territorial lab the team presented the WETNET project and the idea of the wetland contract. Thereafter, experts from the sectors of water, biology and agriculture presented their expert opinions for the maintenance of biodiversity and the water regime of the Ljubljansko barje Nature Park. After the introductory presentations, the question “Which problem do you face in the Ljubljansko barje Nature Park?” was done to the stakeholders. A discussion followed on the issues perceived by stakeholders in the pilot area. At the second territorial lab the method used was the so-called World Café. The stakeholders were divided in four groups discussing on different topics: agriculture, water management, nature and tourism. All the participants discussed all four themes. At each group, which was led by an expert in the subject, participants discussed the most pressing problems they faced in the pilot area on a particular topic, they were asked to find possible solutions to the problem and ultimately expose potential barriers that prevent the implementation of possible solutions. At the end, the experts who led the tables presented the findings in their working tables, and the starting points for the coexistence and functioning of different stakeholders in the pilot area. The third territorial lab was conducted as a round table. The stakeholders discussed potential goals, measures, initiatives and risks for three different areas: governance, environment and economic and social development. The forth territorial lab was conducted as a round table. We invited the stakeholders of agricultural sectors, stakeholders and rightholders. The stakeholders discussed potential goals, measures, initiatives and risks for three different areas: governance, environment and economic and social development. In general, we believe the methodology used was useful and appropriated to engage the stakeholders in the participatory process.
The final document, the Memorandum, which was developed though the process, took the form of an Environmental Agreement for the implementation of the Action Plan shared by the stakeholders. The legal support of the agreement are the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of 23 October 2000) specifically the “negotiated environmental agreements” mentioned in Part B of Annex VI, the The Decree on the Ljubljansko Barje Nature Park (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 112/08) and the Interim Management Guidelines for the Ljubljansko Barje Nature Park (http://www.ljubljanskobarje.si/uploads/files/ZUS%20KPLB%202011.pdf).
An integral part of the Memorandum is the Action Plan, which is the result of the joint conclusions of all participants in the process of its creation, and which defines goals, measures, initiatives and risks in Ljubljansko barje Nature park. The Memorandum is a voluntary document signed by project partners and various stakeholders from public authorities, education and research institutions, civil society, the economic sector and others related to the wetland, with a view to achieving the objectives of restoring the environmental, social and economic aspects of the wetland.
The actors in charge of the coordination of the Memorandum are Research Centre of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (the partner of the project) and Ljubljansko barje nature park (the associated partner of the project). The bodies responsible for implementing the Memorandum are the Assembly and the Supervisory Board. The Memorandum Assembly is composed of all signatories to this Memorandum, and it is open to those who wish to join the Memorandum at a later stage. The Monitoring Committee of the Memorandum consists of representatives of three experts (in the field of nature: Center for Cartography of Flora and Fauna, agriculture: Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana and water management: Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering of the University of Ljubljana). The partners coordinate the work of The Monitoring Committee. The Monitoring Committee and the Assembly meet as needed to assess the state of implementation of the Action Plan, to take careful action and to identify improvements and upgrades. All signatories to the Memorandum undertake to include the appropriate resources available for active participation in the activities. Decision-making procedures follow the principles of information, consultation and active cooperation, in accordance with the applicable national law and the provisions of the European Union. The Action Plan of the Memorandum includes 16 measures that can be classified as concrete. Those are:
From the field of management:
- control of drainage of water from secondary arrester to main dams (river) with locks;
- control of drainage of water from tertiary arrester;
- coordinated maintenance of ditches;
- awareness of stakeholders on the importance of adequate maintenance of the arrester;
- Control of the use of fertilizers and preservatives on agricultural land.
from the field of environment:
- compliance with the ban on the permanent grass cut from the KPLB Regulation (also for organic farmers);
- mowing, adapted to the conservation of species and habitat types;
- adequate maintenance of borders and green belts (selective logging, preservation of trees, maintaining adequate width of green belts along ditches and watercourses);
- establishing a zone of individual subregions where priorities are defined in cooperation with land owners and managers of the protected area and NATURA2000 (KPLB and ZRSVN) - with the participation of the Agricultural Advisory Service;
- the establishment of monitoring of qualifying species and habitat types;
- an example of good practice of coherent policies on the land of the Agricultural Land and Forests Fund (SKZG);
- prepare an analysis of the development possibilities and the restructuring plan for individual agricultural holdings in cooperation with agricultural institutions and with the financial support of agricultural policy;
- payment for the implementation of the adjusted use on agricultural land.
In the field of economic and social development:
- designing common tourism products;
- joint marketing of products;
-building of tourist infrastructure, which will provide a targeted visit;
Along the whole process we had some problems to actively involved agricultural sector and right holders. Finally, we decided to arrange the special territorial lab for them, which was very successful. Similar problem was with public sector especially on the national level. The Action plan was prepared in a sufficient way with our external experts from all three strategical areas. The problem has arisen when the actions with specified responsible stakeholders, financial resources and workplan were presented to the potential responsible stakeholders. We decided to cut the actions and build up the modified action plan with goals, measures, initiatives and risks.
The other problem occurred as the prepared document was named “Contract”. The potential stakeholders expressed the concern on too binding formulation of the document. Finally, we agreed on changing it into the voluntary “Memorandum”.
R
https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2022/12/09/resetting-our-rivers-how-taking-them-back-to-stage-zero-could-help-nurture-nature/
Picture this – it’s a warm summer day and you’re standing on the edge of a valley filled with long, golden grass. Down at the bottom of the valley this grass blends with the wetter landscape’s lush luminous green of wetland vegetation interspersed with sparkling pools of water.
Heading down the slope towards the tangled mix of woodland and open pasture, the temperature drops and the sound of cool running water burbles as it cascades over fallen tree limbs and winds its way across a tangled and untidy landscape of open woodland and grassland. The trees’ bark and roots are covered in bright, textured moss and ferns and between them are glades where beavers and deer graze, keeping the vegetation in check and allowing the light to filter through.
The air is alive with the sound of wetland birds – snipe, woodcocks and the iconic call of the cuckoo. Beneath your feet, the ground is soft and springy with peat and nutrient-rich soil, peppered with purple marsh orchids and the yellow of irises and marsh marigolds.
It’s no wonder this place was once known as the Grant Avon – a name which means ‘divine spring’, from which the town of Grantham likely took its name. In ancient times, it would have been a source of clean water, food, and building material, but also would have served as places where our ancestors communed with nature, believing the river to be inhabited by ancient goddesses.
Nowadays, it is better known as the River Witham and it bears little resemblance to its ancestor of some 2,500 years ago. It has been subjected to generations of interventions to drain the land so it’s suitable for arable use, like much of Lincolnshire’s lost wetlands.
But now, the Environment Agency is undertaking a pioneering project to restore it to its former glory using a new technique known as ‘stage zero river reset.’
It means we’re helping return it to its natural state, lifting the water back up into the landscape – literally recreating the fragile “wet” land landscape that was lost when rivers were modified and controlled for milling and land drainage.
River restoration is nothing new – it helps us improve habitats, increase biodiversity, manage flood risk and protect water quality and quantity during periods of drought. Often it’s done by re-wiggling the rivers, removing bunds, lowering the floodplain to encourage spillage, or creating meanders that more closely resemble the courses they would have naturally taken.
But a stage zero reset goes a step further, allowing it to choose its own shape, and be untidy but free. This technique was developed in the Northwest United States and there has been a growing movement to apply it in the UK across specially-selected sites like Holnicote in Devon and other sites in Cumbria, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.
On the River Witham, we ‘lifted’ the water up onto the landscape by cutting new channels in the floodplain and filling the old, deeper channel. This raised the water table, reduced drainage (giving the river more water to work with), and allows it to reform through its own natural processes of erosion and deposition. Scattering fallen trees across the floodplain mimics processes that would happen naturally over time as the landscape evolves and the river forms its own riffles, rivulets, pools and bogs without human intervention.
This is what we’ve done on the River Witham upstream Grantham in Lincolnshire, and it brings multiple benefits for people and nature. This wet land acts like a sponge, encouraging water to spill out onto the floodplain during wet periods and releasing water back into the river when it’s dry, supporting wildlife and wetland habitat. It also traps nutrients and fine sediment, resulting in cleaner river water downstream. And the project will also absorb 117 tonnes of carbon emissions, meaning that it’s helping tackle both the climate and the nature emergencies.
So far, this stage zero reset has already raised groundwater levels across the site by approximately 1.5m, bringing it nearer to its beautiful, wild state of 2,500 years ago during the Bronze Age.
Nature has been quick to recolonise the new habitat of pied wagtails, egrets, herons and wildfowl returning just days after the work was complete. And after heavy rain, we can see the water downstream of the site has colour than the water flowing into it, which shows us that the fine silts and sands are dropping out into the wetland as we hoped.
It’s more important now than ever before that we look to make a step change in how we manage and improve the environment to halt the decline and support nature recovery. This must include embracing the potential for nature-based solutions delivering for nature and our wider environmental and societal objectives.
That’s why the Environment Agency is working with others to enhance habitats and protect and manage land favorably for nature. And as the world prepares for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity this week – COP 15 – this stage zero restoration project is a solid example of how we can restore our rivers to their former glory and achieve multiple outcomes through the process.
We and colleagues from the University of Lincoln and UMEÅ University in Sweden will continue to monitor the project to study how the new wetland responds to floods and droughts, and to track the return of wetland-dwelling plants and animals. We’re also looking to work with partners to develop this learning into further stage-zero restoration projects across Lincolnshire and beyond.
Rivers used to be revered by ancient peoples and even named after deities for their life-supporting qualities. And through this river reset, we hope that once again this section of the River Witham will resemble the ‘divine spring’ and wild wetland that it once was.
in order to protect
nearby land and homes from flooding, work was
regularly done on the river with the main objective
being to narrow the river bed and to create a single
channel. In the process, alluvial bars along the entire
upstream section were systematically removed and
the resulting sediment was spread along the banks to form bunds. This contributed to incision of the river
bed and disconnection of side channels from the
main channel. It also resulted in significantly destabilising
the river banks.
The works consisted of removing the bunds by regrading
the banks and modifying the management
techniques for accumulated debris and dead wood.
The side channels that had been cut off were restored
and a network of secondary channels was created
to manage flooding. Bank-protection systems
were installed only as needed and exclusively using
bio-engineering or mixed techniques. Sectors with
sparse vegetation were planted. Finally, efforts were
made to counter the development of Japanese knotweed,
an invasive species.
■ Post-restoration management
A track parallel to the banks, at least ten metres from
the river in the riparian vegetation and open only to
maintenance personnel and local land owners, was
created to facilitate maintenance and provide access
to the river in the event urgent action is required
during a flood. Vegetation is cut on a very selective
basis in order to preserve the habitats of the animals
that depend on the aquatic environments. Management
of accumulated debris and jams is kept to a
minimum. An assessment now determines whether
debris and jams constitute an effective obstacle to
the flow of water and only the “risky” situations are
managed by removing any vegetation and raking
the sediment to a depth of 80 cm. +
T
see Quercus case study for more information +
P
‘Pearls in Peril’(2013-2017) was a UK-wide project to safeguard the future of the freshwater pearl mussel (FWPM), a species critically endangered in Europe. This project focused on the most significant populations in Great Britain and addressed the species’ most significant pressures. One of the key rivers targeted in Scotland was the River Dee in Aberdeenshire, designated as a Special Area of Conservation with internationally important populations of FWPM and Atlantic salmon, a key species involved in the mussels’ lifecycle.
In the Dee catchment, the project aimed to tackle 3 main issues affecting FWPM:
1. Morphology – instream and bankside habitat
2. Diffuse pollution from agricultural causes in the middle catchment causing siltation and water quality issues
3. Increasing water temperatures in the upper catchment, caused by climate change.
MORPHOLOGY:
The project identified sections of the River Dee at Banchory, Aboyne, Sluie/Commonty , Braemar (Mar Lodge)and the Slugain Burn for in-stream restoration works. Works were directly funded through the Pearls in Peril Porject.
The River Dee at Banchory, Aboyne and Sluie/Commonty was characterised by numerous croys. The croys were mostly built during the 1990s, using instream boulders, to improve conditions for salmon fishing. However, the croys proved ineffective for fisheries improvements, and in addition to damaging the riverbed habitat when they were built, they also resulted in scour and changes to substrate composition. Pearls in Peril has removed a total of 27 croys and re-distributed the boulders back into the river channel. This work has restored approximately 18,000m2 of river bed habitat. The removal of the croys, in particular the larger paired croys, creates more natural channel hydraulics and sediment transport. Replacement of the boulders from the croys on the bed has covered approximately 25% of the main sub-reach and will benefit freshwater pearl mussels through stabilising the bed substrate and creating hydraulic refugia. Boulder placement also provides these benefits and improves habitat for juvenile salmon.
The Car Bank, Mar Lodge, Braemar was an embankment constructed in the 1980s with a range of materials including local spruce trees, railway sleepers, corrugated iron, approx. 30 old cars, large quantities of concrete, rocks and boulders. Corrugated iron facing has been used so that ice would be less likely to become pinned up against the embankment. Pearls in Peril has undertaken controlled removal of the waste materials and re-profiled 90m of bank, thus re-connecting the River Dee with its flood plain and restoring natural process that will improve habitat for freshwater pearl mussels and salmonids.
The lower reach of the Slugain Burn, a tributary to the Dee just east of Braemar, had been subject to historical alteration including straightening and dredging, and was heavily constrained by embankments. To restore connectivity with the adjacent floodplain and help re-establish natural processes, embankments were removed and relict channels reinstated.
DIFFUSE POLLUTION:
Pearls in Peril worked with farmers along 4 major tributaries to the River Dee, to secure the creation of buffer strips and other beneficial management along watercourses to mitigate diffuse pollution from agricultural sources. The targeted burns were located in the middle reaches of the catchment, characterised by improved farmland, mixed cropping and livestock production.
The main funding source for the works was through Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) agri-environment schemes, with project officers supporting farmers to apply for the funding. Where such funding was not feasible, Pearls in Peril bridged the gap through direct financing of works.
In total, 38km of water margins were fenced off to prevent livestock accessing banks and causing erosion by poaching and dunging in the water. A generous riparian buffer will also aid catching of run-off, mitigating diffuse pollution from agricultural operations in the field. In many cases, alternative waterings for livestock were installed, usually in the form of troughs connected to a piped water supply, and where this was not feasible, solar powered trough pumps were utilised. Management of land adjacent to watercourses was also modified through some agri-environment contract, such as sensitive grazing of wetlands and habitat mosaics, leaving stubble on arable ground overwinter and establishment of green cover crops to prevent run-off.
RIPARIAN TREE PLANTING TO MITIGATE RISING WATER TEMPERATURES
In the River Dee, water temperatures have risen by an average of 1.2˚C since the 1970s. Projected further increases could cause fish mortality; therefore protecting the freshwater biodiversity of the river is a priority. Planting trees to shade the water is an obvious method of working towards ‘future-proofing’ the upper catchment against these climate-change trends. On Upper Deeside, the objective was to work with farmers and estates to establish woodland along tributaries.
Several estates and farms participated by planting SRDP-funded riparian woodlands, covering over 31 km of bankside. Large, deer-fenced enclosures are the preference for establishing a viable woodland habitat. However, where tributaries are located within game management areas of sporting estates, an alternative was required: small stock-fenced tree enclosures have been used as a compromise to fill the gaps.
The enclosures work on the principle that the density of trees in 1.2m shelters in a confined space deters deer from jumping in – 20 native trees are planted in a 4mx4m enclosure. Although browsing of edge trees will occur, trees in the centre will be protected. Enclosures are spaced along key watercourses, concentrating where possible on stretches where maximum shading of the river can be achieved. In addition to creating shade, trees also help stabilise banks, reduce run-off and add leaf litter and woody debris.
Over 1000 small enclosures have been erected along Upper Dee tributaries, benefiting over 30km of banks. Enclosures have generally been well received by their ‘hosting’ landowners, all of which are large sporting estates. Members of the public have welcomed the prospect of trees becoming established in these landscapes.
The small tree-enclosures are experimental. However, they are facilitating the return of native trees to several Deeside glens that have been devoid of tree growth for generations. Any trees established successfully in these upland glens will hopefully provide a seed source for the future. In total, ~113,370 tress were planted.