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.