Grantee: Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Charitable Trust

Duration:  3 years (May 2025 – May 2028) 

 

Background

Scotland’s rivers and their freshwater species face increasing pressure from a range of environmental stressors. Degraded riparian habitats reduce shade and bank stability, making rivers more vulnerable to rising temperatures, erosion, and loss of biodiversity. These changes threaten iconic species such as wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout, while also undermining water quality and ecosystem resilience.

Restoration efforts such as re-meandering channels, reconnecting floodplains, planting riparian woodland, and enhancing in-stream habitats can play a vital role in reversing these impacts. Such nature-based solutions help to rebuild biodiversity, improve climate resilience, and support more sustainable land and water use.

The Project

The Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Trust (DBIRT) works to restore and enhance the health of the Deveron catchment in northeast Scotland. As part of the wider ‘Project Deveron’, a 10-year, catchment-scale partnership with the Atlantic Salmon Trust, DBIRT is leading the restoration of Edinglassie Burn, a key tributary of the River Deveron.

The Edinglassie Burn project aims to restore natural processes and habitats through interventions including re-meandering sections of the burn, reinstating historic scrapes and ponds, stabilising eroded banks, planting native riparian trees, and reconnecting the burn to its floodplain. These actions will help improve water retention, reduce temperature extremes, and create better conditions for biodiversity to thrive.

To ensure the effectiveness of these interventions, robust environmental monitoring is essential. With support from the HIEF grant, DBIRT will install temperature loggers along the burn and downstream. These sensors will provide high-resolution data to monitor thermal conditions and assess habitat suitability, helping to inform an adaptive management approach across the wider Deveron catchment.