River restoration for the benefit of nature, climate and people
Today, Scottish salmon are under threat. Without action across key salmon catchments, wild Atlantic salmon could become a distant memory. But by restoring the catchments and ecosystems that salmon are a part of, we can help to cool our waters under climate change, store more carbon, boost biodiversity, and provide the habitats that our salmon need.
The European Nature Trust is now committed to helping restore catchments in the Scottish Highlands. Building on riparian restoration work conducted at Alladale Wilderness Reserve – where one million trees have been replanted along two Highland glens – we are now supporting catchment-wide initiatives, empowering local organisations to catalyse a network of ecological restoration projects.
No one species in isolation
Increasingly, we are realising that the health of our rivers, and therefore the species that live in them, is determined by the surrounding land-use and health of the broader river catchments. Once, salmon would have undertaken their epic migrations as adults from the deep sea, back to their freshwater birthplace in the Highlands of Scotland, where vast forests, meandering rivers and variable flows would have provided the perfect conditions for fish to reproduce.
Today however, after centuries of land-use change, very few trees are left on Scotland’s riverbanks to shade the water. In fact, Scotland has lost 97% of its native woodland. Many river catchments that would have once been covered with rich woodlands of pine, willow, downy birch and alder have been stripped, leaving the riverbanks bare and exposed.
Without the cooling shade that trees provide on riverbanks, these hugely important river catchments are experiencing thermal stress. Today, that is already reducing the survival rates of commercially and culturally important species such as the Atlantic salmon, brown trout, and critically endangered freshwater pearl mussels. Further, according to the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland, more than 60% of our remaining native woodland habitat is significantly impacted by herbivores, preventing natural regeneration.
Watch – Riverwoods: A salmon’s journey
To discover more about the relationship between salmon and native forests as a part of our catchment ecosystems, watch the full TENT-funded film Riverwoods: A Salmon’s Journey, produced by SCOTLAND: The Big Picture.
Taking a ‘catchment-scale’ view on restoration
If we’re to ensure Scotland still has salmon in the future, we have to ensure that whole river catchments are healthy.
By taking a catchment-scale approach to river health, we can restore their natural ecology, boost biodiversity, sequester carbon, and benefit communities. TENT is supporting local organisations in the Highlands of Scotland, providing critical capacity-building support and partnership approaches to catalyse a network of ecological restoration projects. In time, as projects accrue under locally-run catchment-scale initiatives, we can restore ecological function to our river catchments.
TENT’s support for Riverwoods projects aligns with the national Riverwoods movement, led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Evidence compiled by the Riverwoods Science Working Group shows comprehensive need for catchment-scale restoration of riparian woodland and other habitat types to restore mosaics of habitats across Scotland’s river catchments.
Streams and rivers within catchments are physically connected, running from the headwaters of their source to the sea and laterally within their floodplains. This physical connection of our waterways – together with the plants and animals within them – provision and process energy changes down the length of the watercourse, creating functional ecosystems. As such, this connectivity of river woodland and other habitats is essential for ecological functioning, carbon and nutrient cycling, enabling a healthy river system. In turn, river health provides the conditions for salmon and other culturally and commercially important species to flourish.
However, in Scotland, analysis from SEPA in 2015/2016 show that 56% of Scotland’s riverbanks are in poor condition; just 13% is in good condition. Climate projections show that Scotland can expect warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers. Extreme weather will become more variable and frequent, leading to greater risk of both droughts and floods. Modelling predicts increasing flow peaks of 50% on average by the 2080s, while drought projections show that extreme drought events will increase across Scotland, reducing water resource available for communities.
The restoration of ecosystems within our catchments can reduce the impact of climate change, nourish biodiversity and support communities and economies. By working together, we can recover our river catchments and preserve a pillar of Highland heritage in the wild Atlantic salmon.
Project benefits
Restoring riparian woodlands will provide critical nursery grounds for young salmon, boosting freshwater productivity. Tree cover will shade the water, cooling temperature to improve salmon survival rates.
Re-vegetation of the riverbanks – through woodland creation and natural regeneration – will help restore natural hydrological flows, providing sorely needed habitat and resources for invertebrates, birds and mammals.
As peatland is restored and woodland is created, carbon will be drawn in from the atmosphere and sequestered in our catchment ecosystems.
Native woodland will regulate the flow of water from rivers while slowing drainage back into them, mitigating flood risk and benefitting local communities. The improvement in salmon and trout numbers will support a sustainable economy, enjoyed by local people and visitors.
What are we doing to support catchment restoration?
The European Nature Trust is partnered with local organisations across the Cromarty Firth watershed and Kyle of Sutherland catchments. Through partnership approaches, we are supporting the capacity for river catchment restoration to be delivered at scale. Through engagement with key estates and proprietors in the region, local organisations and Trusts we are partnered with are developing a pipeline of riparian woodland, upland woodland, instream habitat enhancement and peatland restoration projects. These projects are guided by the latest fisheries and biodiversity science, and adhere to standards enshrined by NatureScot and other regulators.
Pipeline restoration projects are mapped and developed by our project partners in concert with landowners. Individual projects are delivered through a blend of financing, including available woodland creation grants from the Scottish Forestry Grant scheme; private CSR donations from the corporate sector; private investment from estates or proprietors themselves; and other compensatory financing mechanisms as appropriate. The European Nature Trust is supporting the growth of these pipeline projects, bringing together partners and investors to catalyse the delivery of restoration at the pace and scale required, as reflected in Scottish Government’s Biodiversity Strategy.
Throughout the years, projects delivered will form a mosaic of restored habitats across catchments that together, will help to restore ecological function, allowing salmon to thrive in their freshwater ecosystems.
“No one species exists in isolation. It all forms part of a deeply interconnected web”
Duncan Pepper
Salmon fisherman and ecologist
Where we are supporting local organisations across catchments
Cromarty Firth
The Cromarty Firth district encompasses all rivers and burns flowing into the Cromarty Firth. This includes the rivers Conon, Alness, Allt Graad (Glass), Balnagowan, Sgitheach and Peffrey. There are also a number of smaller coastal burns within the district, the most notable of which include the Ussie, Newhall, Fearn and Rosskeen. We are partners with the Cromarty Firth Watershed Environmental Trust, whose vision is to restore ecological function to a 2,000 square kilometre area.
Kyle of Sutherland
The Kyle catchment in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, are some of the most important rivers for salmon migration. Yet, they are some of the most vulnerable to thermal stress. The Kyle of Sutherland is the natural tidal estuary for the Rivers Carron, Oykel, Cassley, Shin and Evelix with their many tributaries, burns and freshwater lochs. Together they drain 163,647 hectares of land and amount to some 46 miles of tidal zone, 70 miles of principal rivers, 400 miles of tributaries and 61 named lochs and lochans. We are supporting the Kyle of Sutherland Rivers Trust, to restore ecological function to a 1,600 square kilometre area through their Kyle Riverwoods project, supported by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
Community Tree Nurseries
To complement large commercial nurseries, Scottish Forestry view a network of small local nurseries as essential in meeting the demand for new native woodlands within the Scottish Forestry Strategy. As more native woodland creation projects emerge, more locally-reared trees will be needed.
Tree nurseries form a powerful anchorpoint for community engagement and education, helping to create a space for schoolchildren and adults alike to connect with and support their natural heritage. To this end, TENT, with support from Louis Vuitton has funded the creation of a new community tree nursery in Ardgay, to provide trees of local provenance for the restoration of the Kyle rivers. Over time, TENT will support the creation of a network of community tree nurseries across key Riverwoods catchments to provide trees of local provenance.
Support the Vision
Catchment restoration can mitigate the impact of climate change and reverse the loss of biodiversity across whole river systems.
Our support for and partnership with local organisations aims to help develop a mosaic of interconnected habitat creation projects, focusing on some of the most climate-threatened, high priority river systems. Together with Trusts responsible for managing river catchments, we are working with landowners and proprietors, to take a landscape scale approach to ecosystem restoration, coordinating a range of different projects across catchments and drawing in funding from government, corporate sponsors and individuals. Our ambition is to develop lasting partnerships, and involve the community, to take the urgently necessary action to prevent the loss of our iconic species, by delivering resilient, restored rivers, that also support a thriving rural economy. We hope that our contributions to locally-run initiatives will further develop models for replication across Scotland to address the climate and biodiversity crises, for nature and people.
Please contact TENT’s Managers if you would like to support the work – TENT and our project partners in the Cromarty Firth Watershed Environmental Trust and the Kyle of Sutherland Rivers Trust are looking to work with landowners, while developing funding relationships to help us scale the work.
Partners & Supporters
