Nature Restoration Fund 2021 funds Revive the Allan Phase 2
Revive the Allan is working with landowners in the upper Allan Water catchment to undertake nature based restoration works to benefit rivers and wildlife. Working with the local landowner Blackford Estates, the works will see two areas of the floodplain receive works to slow the flow and support wildlife.
Near Greenloaning an area has been identified as potential for changes to not only ‘slow the flow’ but also to support wading birds. The area has in the past had a conifer plantation and a number of ditches to drain the area installed. The project will create new ponds and scrapes by diverting the water from the drainage ditches by utilising the remnants of the felled trees. This will spread the water over a larger area and allow the water to permeate through the vegetation and soils. The works will boost wetland habitat locally for wading birds but also other wildlife such as amphibians as well as providing Natural Flood Management benefits as water is stored on the floodplain.
In addition the pottery pipework forming the formal below ground drainage system will be blocked 10m from the river to further slow the flow and prevent fast and often sedimentary water discharging directly into the river. This will protect the river by ensuring the water it receives is cleaner supporting spawning and juvenile fish.
To the south and above the village of Blackford a different technique will be used. The installation of leaky dams on smaller tributaries will slow the flow at peak times. This will help to prevent wash out of gravels and redds (fish nests and eggs) as well as contributing to the protection of properties within Blackford which currently are susceptible to flooding.
The Forth Rivers Trust has received funding of £45,980 from the NatureScot Nature Restoration Fund to deliver these projects in partnership with the local landowner Blackford Farms.
All of these activities feed into the overall plan to improve the Allan Water catchment through positive land management alongside the land managers on the group whilst benefiting wildlife and communities across the catchment.
This project is part of the Allan Water Project, a partnership initiative which includes Scottish Government, SEPA, Nature Scot, RSPB, Forestry Scotland, Stirling University, Heriot Watt University, and local landowners.
Alison Baker, Director of the Forth Rivers Trust said:
Working across the landscape undertaking smaller low tech action with landowners is part of the delivery of the Allan Water Project. These works are part of the wider Revive the Allan project looking at restoring the natural resilience and function of the river Allan between Greenloaning and its source above Blackford. The work complements the actions of the landowners and adds to the cumulative impact of works elsewhere in this section of river and on the flood plain – including the restoration of Shelforkie Moss and vernal ponds and river restoration at Def Knowe.
We are grateful to Nature Scot for their continued support of this project and for the allocation of this further funding to continue this work.
Biodiversity Minister, Lorna Slater, said:
“Too much of Scotland’s natural environment is degraded after years of over-exploitation, but this Government is committed to restoring nature and our wildlife. The Nature Restoration Fund will play a big role in delivering these aspirations, and the projects we are funding today are just the beginning. The Fund kick starts a new approach, supporting longer-term, larger, landscape-scale projects across Scotland – on land and at sea – that address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Over this parliament we will invest at least £65 million through the fund, delivering real change that people and nature will benefit from across the whole country.”
NatureScot Chief Executive, Francesca Osowska, said:
“COP26 in Glasgow has driven home the urgency of the situation we are all facing. But there is hope. By restoring nature, protecting and enhancing habitats and safeguarding marine life we can look forward to a nature-positive future.
“Scotland is taking action now to meet the huge challenges and pressures that nature is facing and its projects like these that will make the difference and set us on the road to recovery.
“Climate change needs nature-based solutions, not only to help us reach net zero by 2045 but to create a healthier, more resilient Scotland.”
