Working with Rivers – Catchment Management Trainee
By Ewan Malecki
As I approach the final third of my placement, I guess it’s high time for an update with my experience so far on the Working With Rivers Internship. My name is Ewan, and I was selected as the catchment management trainee.
Straight out the block it was clear that Forth Rivers Trust operate in a dynamic and pro-active approach to their commitment to restoring Scotland’s rivers. The first week alone was a whirlwind of activity which included the annual brown trout opening ceremony, a whistle-stop tour of historic weirs across central Scotland and attending a Nature Scot tree-planting ceremony.
As the catchment management intern, it has been fascinating to take a wider viewpoint of river networks and see how quickly the same river can be drastically altered through the various internal and external pressures placed on the watercourse. I’ve witnessed the sublime – willow-weaving on the banks of the River Teith in crystalline waters, to the ridiculous – a shopping trolley graveyard along a heavily polluted River Leven.
I believe it is just as important to witness these bad aspects of Scotland’s rivers as it is the good. Unfortunately, this is a reality of where we are at in some places. Indeed, it sometimes feels like the more you look the more issues seem to crop up and it becomes evident there is no silver bullet to dealing with river issues on a catchment scale.
However, where there are pressures there are also opportunities. On my wanderings up the rivers documenting weirs, I’ve encountered locals who can regale stories of the rivers past, explaining the abundance of species and diversity that they remember in the waters – there are always people on natures side. This is evidenced in Anstruther where I’m helping the local community group spearhead the ecological revival of the Dreel Burn which is at the heart of their community. The more we can engage different stakeholders and nudge the awareness of river restoration within the public sphere the more traction we generate in getting results.
As someone who had identified they were wanting a career change this internship has allowed me to develop my skills with confidence and follow my goal of working in conservation management. It’s not easy to facilitate a career move at the best of times, let alone when you are in your mid-thirties with no real experience of the sector. Yet, through hard work and perseverance, I’m gaining both technical knowledge and vital hand’s on experience with conservation work.
So, if like me, you are looking to take that leap of faith and start a career in conservation I would say “go for it”. If I can do it, you can too. Ultimately we need to be true to ourselves and work somewhere which has a fulfilling and meaningful purpose, because that risk will always be worth taking.
Working with Rivers is delivered by NatureScot with National Transition funding from Skills Development Scotland
