Habitat – Carbon Sequestration - Shading – Community – Education

Glenfalloch might be called the source of Loch Lomond with the River Falloch flowing from a 24,000ac catchment on the hillsides near Crianlarich and running down through the Glen to the head the Loch. Glenfalloch is passionate about making the restoration of riparian habitat on what could be as much as 20 miles of burn and river the backbone of the long term nature restoration project it is embarking on.  

Glenfalloch would collaborate with a range of public, charitable and community organisations to create a riparian habitat that delivered improved landscape scale ecosystems as well as community engagement and education opportunities. The improved habitat would provide contiguous climate and biodiversity crises fighting links from the banks of Loch Lomond to montane scrub high above the tree line. Thus providing new habitat for the huge range of species found on Glenfalloch and enabling species to move north and higher to adjust to climate change. Tree growth would contribute to the sequestration of carbon, fighting climate change, and provide shade to the watercourses preventing warming of the water thereby offering greater chances of survival to the young migratory fish and brown trout found in the river system. It is anticipated that the local community and local primary school will be involved from an early stage in order to ensure there is maximum benefit delivered to those living closest to the project area.

https://ballochparkregen.co.uk/

Immerse Balloch Castle Country Park's one million annual local & international visitors in nature recovery by putting Riverwoods action & education at the heart of this unique Park's critical restoration. Harness the local community's love of the Park to help achieve healthy, vibrant riparian woodland networks in the world famous Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

This 217 acre country park almost has it all:

- river, burns, loch lomond, beaches, slipway;

- extensive native woodland, outstanding veteran trees, designed parkland, walled garden;

- red squirrels, an array of wild fish species;

- A-Listed castle, gatehouses, playparks; &

- easy access by train, bus, bike and car from Glasgow.

Yet while annual visitor numbers have soared from 400,000 in 2003 to an estimated million now, this vast Park is suffering a rapid 'managed' decline - abandoned &  sunken watercraft, riven with problem non-native, self-seeding conifers & bamboo, erosion undermining woodland, mature trees and paths. Anti-social behaviour & littering, no café, accessible toilets or shop, deteriorating fenced off castle, minimal organised education, events or volunteering opportunities, & substantial negative impacts associated with a huge increase in footfall.

The Park and its bonnie banks are visitor magnets but these outstanding natural & capital assets currently generate no income for reinvestment in the Park. As well as international visitors, it serves some of the most deprived areas of Scotland. Owned by Glasgow City Council and leased to West Dunbartonshire Council, Balloch Castle Country Park is sinking and desperately needs vision and resources now.

https://www.facebook.com/Ballochcastlecountrypark

Our Balloch Park: https://vimeo.com/764966107/3a04ec5a56 

Why our rivers?

The race to climate resilience, protecting our communities from climate breakdown, will be won or lost on rivers – and right now we're losing.

Damage to river systems has been so extensive that an urgent need has emerged, not only to conserve, but to restore these systems.  Our degraded  rivers are less able to cope with the rain we expect in the future, making flooding more likely to impact communities River rand riparian habitat restoration is an important measure to mitigate against these effects. Heavily modified rivers are often less resilient and have lost their ability to hold water in both droughts and floods.

Rivers are the veins of the Earth, transporting the water and nutrients needed to support the planet’s ecosystems, including human life. Unfortunately, they’re still threatened. 

We must commit to recovering freshwater biodiversity, restoring natural river flows and cleaning up polluted water for people and nature to thrive.  

Fish, amphibians, birds, insects, and invertebrates live in rivers, or find their food there. Rivers play a vital role in connecting habitats, and their value to plants and animals extends far beyond the surface area they cover.

Carbon starts its journey downstream when natural acid rain (which contains dissolved carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) dissolves minerals in rocks. This neutralises the acid and transforms carbon dioxide to bicarbonate in the water that then flows in our rivers. Bicarbonate can remain in water for thousands of years.  (BBC)

Why Our River?

The Bothlin burn as it runs through the ancient woodland of the Moodiesburn Glen which sereates the communities of Moodiesburn and Chryston is a significant tribuary to the Luggie water and thereafter the clyde, restoring the river and riparian environment here has the capacity to bring multiple wins in tersm of biodiversity, community wellbeing, climate resilience, active travel, combatting health inequalites, improving community cohesion and restoration of fish populations.  The burn being a positive contribution to the local environment rather than a polluted detrimental hazard is incredibly important to the surrounding communities who have expereinced an overwhelming loss of local greenspace which is essential to combat systemic health inequalities.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NCCVols/permalink/2423176711147985/

The Annan Riparian Restoration Network aims to expand and restore a network of broadleaf woodlands across the River Annan and its tributaries. By planting a mixture of native species at key locations we aim to enhance biodiversity whilst crucially building climate resilience into the landscape.

This ambitious project will bring together multiple landowners, with combined landholdings of over 35,000ha throughout the catchment. The project will consult, engage and involve local stakeholders, community groups and schools to improve their local surroundings for people and nature.

The project will use data and local knowledge to identify areas where riparian tree planting will provide multiple benefits, enhancing water quality and biodiversity, keeping waters shaded from increasing summer temperatures, providing natural flood management and connecting places for nature throughout the landscape. Through better management, sharing knowledge and protection of these important areas around watercourses there will be opportunities for communitites to enjoy, understand and engage with their natural environment. This will have benefits for both physical health and mental wellbeing as well as the health of the river.

The Upland Summer Mayfly is in trouble. It lives in rivers and streams in upland areas where it thrives in the cold water conditions found there. But climate change is making these streams warmer. Freshwater invertebrates like the Upland Summer Mayfly are the most threatened by these changes. They are being pushed further and further up in to the hills, in to increasingly smaller, isolated areas. The Upland Summer Mayfly (Ameletus inopinatus) has already disappeared from lower altitudes in some areas - if we don't act now we could lose it completely.

There is hope though. We can build resilience in upland catchments by keeping upland watercourses cool. By establishing trees along the banks of these rivers we can help stop the Upland Summer Mayfly being lost from south and central Scotland.

We will work with land managers at multiple locations across Scotland to identify high risk watercourses and key areas for tree planting. We'll survey streams to give a baseline of the invertebrate fauna present. We'll train volunteers to monitor the invertebrate life in these streams and work with land managers to design planting schemes.

We are, Nith Life, a newly established  group who share a passion for the River Nith catchment.

Nith Life has individual, community, and organisational representatives across multiple areas of interest who have come together around a common aim – to address ecological challenges along the river Nith and build meaningful cultural and educational connections throughout the catchment. We hope to do this through a catchment-based approach to create more resilient habitats, restoring biodiversity and reducing flood risk whilst encouraging a culture of connection with the river for local communities. In essence we want to become better stewards and celebrate the Nith’s as a resource for our local communities and as a significant part of our region’s sustainability plans for the future.

We have a big picture ethos:

·         Entire river catchment - from source to sea

·        A cross sector and interdisciplinary approach to innovative solutions  

·        Inclusive working - all ages, demographics and backgrounds

·        Collaborative – working in partnership to build a network for mutually beneficial outcomes

The focus for our project is to work with local communities and partners to identify woodland creation opportunities in the Nith catchment area – using a pool of data, knowledge and networks – in order to strategically plan and identify where best to work at scale.

Nith District Salmon Fishery Board and the Nith Catchment Fishery Trust have not been involved in this proposal and do not give their endorsement.

Perthshire Nature Connections Partnership (PNCP) is a long-term, nature-based vision to create a connection across Highland Perthshire between the Cairngorms and the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Parks. It works with a range of organisations across community, environment and land management (website for details).

PNCP promotes integrated, large-scale ecological restoration of a sustainable and resilient landscape that provides environmental, socio-economic and health and wellbeing benefits to communities and land-managers.

PERTHSHIRE NATURE CONNECTION PARTNERSHIP – UPPER TAY CATCHMENT COMMUNITIES

PNCP knows where our area can deliver vitally important landscape changes, supporting biodiversity and addressing climate change. Landscape change will put Natural Capital ‘in the bank’ for us all – we have been overdrawn for too long. UPPER TAY CATCHMENT COMMUNITIES was an established working title for us prior to Riverwoods.

Our transition to a nature-based landscape needs supporting. Our area includes sparsely populated and remote areas, and significant but seasonal tourist activity. And nature across the area faces a worrying future.

Our local communities can be as nature-based as can any area’s communities – they are adaptable and innovative; but they must not be left behind. The landscape is not ‘urban’ or ‘rural’ capital – it is natural capital for everyone.

PNCP's published programme (Apr 2022) is a good framework, and the time has arrived for landscape-scale change on the ground.

Riverwoods - UPPER TAY CATCHMENT COMMUNITIES  will unlock opportunities for innovation in nature-finance, providing specialist support to help us to deliver change faster and further. PNCP will enable change-projects to deliver, however best we can.  We are always seeking new partners – businesses, communities and land-managers.

The Lothian Esks which start their headwaters in the Pentland and Moorfoot Hills flowing through Midlothian and after flowing through a number of towns and villages joins together before discharging into the Firth of Forth at Musselburgh.  On the way it tumbles through ravines and communities providing life for wildlife and people who live and work in the area.  A river loved by people but needs a holistic catchment scale initiative to ensure it is resilient in the future and supports both wildlife and communities.

There are areas within the Lothian Esk catchment which are at risk of flooding which could damage houses, businesses and infrastructure.  The catchment is also impacted by the presence of weirs and manmade dams which impact on the natural movement of species particularly fish - salmon , trout, eels and lamprey and also damaging impounded waters and loss of sediment transfer.  This is further exacerbated by the presence of sewage, and mine water pollution and invasive non native species.

Working across all communities the river needs a plan and action which can be taken to boost and support the work to prevent flooding as well as protection of drinking water assets and sewage treatment plants.  Improvements are required to both longitudinal and lateral connectivity which will lead to the recovery of nature supporting both local and visitors alike.  The river and its people can, by working across the whole river catchment and on sustainable nature like solutions, potentially reduce to the costs of flood mitigation measures, reduce sewage spills, provide sustainable solutions to net zero energy production and bring iconic species back to the river supporting tourism.

Measures could include the re-introduction of the beaver to aid river engineering, reconnection of floodplain, planting or riverwoods along the catchment, removal of impediments to fish passage up and down stream as well as ensure the sediment transfer function to provide nutrients and energy to the river system.  This would include bring the communities together to prepare a plan as well as looking innovative types of funding for delivery.  We believe this would also support the measures being put forward for the delivery of flood mitigation measures within the catchment.

The River Ericht, one of the most important spawning grounds for Atlantic Salmon in Europe, is in crisis. Extreme weather caused by climate change, historic and current land management practices and invasive species, are damaging the quantity and quality of water in the river and the health of its vegetation, woodlands and wildlife. As a result Salmon numbers are in steep decline and in danger of disappearing altogether.

Our new River Ericht Catchment Regeneration Initiative has been set up in response to this crisis. With a founding group of local angling, environmental and community-led organisations, we want to take a catchment scale approach to reviving this important river system. We will seek to engage landowners, farmers, businesses, communities, educational institutions, and relevant statutory bodies in restoring biodiversity, sinking carbon and enabling the sustainable livelihoods that depend on the Salmon and the river to thrive now and in the future.

We aim to augment existing Forestry and Land Scotland planting plans by creating 27,000 square metres of wetland habitat on the River Goil flood plain in Lochgoilhead. Managing water flow will reduce flood risk, improve biodiversity, connect wildlife corridors, and provide additional recreational and educational opportunities for our community, our businesses, and visitors. Initial funding will enable us to explore the feasibility of habitat creation to complement planned native woodland replanting. Further funding would enable us to undertake construction of the habitat and extend our paths network by creating a “floating” boardwalk, bringing people into closer contact with ecosystems they might not otherwise experience. We will create physical and online information points to educate people about the links between biodiversity and climate change.