About
With over 125,000km of rivers and streams, wherever you are in Scotland, you’ll be close to a river.
River woodlands – the trees and woods in, next to and near rivers, burns and lochs – are vital for creating and maintaining healthy rivers and are biologically rich areas that provide a link between land and water. They are the green arteries of our ecosystem.
However, the impact of human activity has caused declines in the extent of river woodlands, eroding their ability to provide a wide range of benefits. Agricultural intensification, urban development, overgrazing and inappropriate afforestation have all contributed to this loss.
We want to work with communities to re-engage them with their rivers. We want to support land managers to make the best decisions to benefit this habitat. We want to see Scotland’s river woodlands better connected to each other, better able to deal with the impacts of climate change and providing our communities, farms and industries with cool, clean water. We want them to be beautiful, biodiverse habitats that we can all enjoy.
The Need for Transformative Change
Society is facing big environmental challenges which call for big responses. The UN has designated 2021-2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration in recognition of the scale of action required to tackle the biodiversity crisis. Riverwoods will rise to the challenge by seeking to deliver change at a Scotland-wide scale. Making our habitats and wildlife more connected will help make them more resilient, in turn ensuring they are capable of delivering the essential benefits upon which our wildlife, economy and wellbeing depend.
Why Are River Woodlands Special?
River woodlands play a vital role in maintaining the health of freshwater ecosystems; they protect riverbanks, control erosion, capture and recycle mineral nutrients, increase biodiversity and filter pollutants. River woodlands also have enormous potential to positively contribute to re-joining fragmented habitat networks as they create long, sinuous corridors interconnecting across the landscape along which species can travel. The connectivity provided by these corridors makes the species which live in and alongside our rivers more resilient to impacts of climatic change by being able to move through the landscape. Healthy river woodlands also help regulate water flows, shade rivers to reduce water temperature and help re-establish a diverse, complex and beautiful habitat.
Which Species Benefit?
The ‘riparian zone’ – the area where river woodlands thrive – is home to many of Scotland’s most iconic species, including ospreys, white-tailed eagles, otters, and Atlantic salmon. A diverse range of invertebrate, bird, and bat species also thrive in these habitats, creating a truly biodiverse ecosystem.
Our Purpose
The key purpose of Riverwoods is clear: to establish a network of river woodlands and healthy river systems across Scotland. This will provide critical benefits, including flood protection, improved water quality, healthier fisheries, and contribute to addressing the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.
This is an ambitious goal, but it’s one that offers enormous benefits. By protecting and restoring these habitats we can safeguard people’s livelihoods, improve wellbeing, combat the climate crisis, and stop the collapse of biodiversity.
Many organisations and landowners are already working on river restoration projects, and Riverwoods provides an opportunity to join these up across Scotland. We will:
- Collectively share knowledge of the science underpinning riparian restoration;
- Support landowners to carry out practical work;
- Identify and address evidence gaps;
- Showcase best practice and;
- Explore novel forms of financing to enable riparian restoration to be carried out at scale.
Together, we can create a healthier, more resilient Scotland where river woodlands thrive for generations to come.
