Riparian woodland can deliver a range of significant benefits including reductions in water temperature for vulnerable Atlantic salmon populations (by creating shade), increased biodiversity, reduced soil erosion, slowing of floodwaters, improved water quality, sequestering carbon and enhancing the landscape.
Our newly launched Practitioners’ Guide to Riparian Woodland Creation is aimed at farmers, landowners, land managers, conservation bodies and other organisations to assist and encourage tree planting at the scale required to make a significant difference. Commissioned and funded by The Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, it shares some of our two decades of experience in tree planting and catchment management at the landscape scale.
The guide is written for both experienced and inexperienced practitioners and provides practical insights and strategies for on-the-ground delivery of riparian woodlands. This ranges from advice on funding sources and applications, including information on green financing through the Woodland Carbon Code, to operational considerations such as tree species choice and sourcing, fencing and tree protection, contractor engagement and ongoing maintenance.
Delivery model development guidance is given including the creation of an overall vision on how the river landscape should look, the outlining of catchment-specific benefits such as pollution and nutrient run-off reduction which can also aid funding applications, river bank protection, integration with commercial forestry and farmer and landowner engagement.
Potential land and design constraints are also explained, and extensive resources provided on topics ranging from mapping and river temperature guides to soil risk and land capability maps as well as information on protected species and working within Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation.
While much of the information within the new guide relates to Scotland-specific delivery mechanisms and legislation, a great deal of content is likely to be valuable for anyone working to establish riparian woodland across the UK.
We hope that this new publication will provide a valuable roadmap to help create a network of thriving riverbank woodlands and healthy river ecosystems right across the country.
