The Blueprint Project

The Riverwoods Blueprint Project lies at the core of the Riverwoods partnership. In 2024 the Blueprint Project, led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, was awarded £1.8 million in funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the delivery of a four-year £3.5 million programme to create a practical blueprint for river woodland restoration across Scotland.

The project was proceeded by a development phase, during which we worked with Riverwoods partners to conduct research and devise a strategic plan for river woodland creation and restoration at scale.

Now in the delivery phase, the Blueprint Project is delivering:

TREES IN THE GROUND:  

Over 100 hectares of planting in the Tweed, Spey and Kyle of Sutherland river catchments delivered with our partners Tweed Forum, Spey Catchment Initiative and Kyle of Sutherland Rivers Trust. Key learnings and insights from these sites will be fed into our Digital Centre of Excellence, as well as providing crucial case studies for our communications and advocacy work.

HEIGHTENED COLLABORATION:   

Our Digital Centre of Excellence will serve as a space for knowledge and data sharing, best practice guidance, and centralised resources, including financial and advisory opportunities and a standardised measuring and monitoring framework to support the evaluation of river woodland projects over time.

A NEW GRANT SCHEME:

The Riverwoods Development Grant seeks to address one of the key barriers to river woodland creation by supporting the scoping, planning and design of River Woodland Development Plans for the benefit of river health, habitat connectivity, and access to nature in Scotland.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES:

A suite of national and place-based activities to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of river woodlands as well as providing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to inspire communities to take action for their local river woodlands.

This work will be supported and enhanced by a range of partnership, communications and advocacy activities.

At the end of the project we will draw on the knowledge and experience gained throughout both the development and delivery stages and create our primary output of a blueprint for river woodland restoration and creation across Scotland. This blueprint will serve as a model, source of inspiration, and guiding resource for future river woodland projects, pushing forward the collective vision of Riverwoods.

The Riverwoods Blueprint Project is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery Players.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage.
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations.
We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past

The Blueprint Project Team

The Blueprint Project is delivered by the following staff team:

  • Riverwoods Project Manager
  • Riverwoods Partnership Support Officer
  • Riverwoods Knowledge and Evidence Officer
  • Riverwoods Communications and Advocacy Lead
  • Riverwoods Community Engagement Officer
  • Tweed Riparian Improvements Project Officer
  • Kyle Riverwoods Restoration Officer
  • Spey Tributaries Project Officer

You can get in touch with us at riverwoods@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk

Riverwoods Blueprint Project Partners

The Blueprint Project is led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership with Fisheries Management Scotland, Woodland Trust Scotland, Buglife, Tweed Forum, Kyle of Sutherland Rivers Trust and Spey Catchment Initiative. 

Riverwoods

The Blueprint Project is one project stream under the wider Riverwoods initiative. Learn how the Blueprint Project feeds into the wider aims of the partnership.

About Riverwoods