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.

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/