THERE is a fresh urgency to restore Scottish river catchments and woodlands to a healthy condition after a disppointing catch number last year, according to new stats.
Yesterday, the Scottish Government’s provisional catch statistics revealed that 2023 had the lowest catch for wild Scottish salmon on record with a 25% drop on 2022’s numbers.
The Riverwoods initiative, led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, is now focusing on restoration work, along with starting an awareness campaign to restore Scotland’s degraded rivers.
Riverwoods Project Manger, Mike Thornton said: “Returning our rivers to a healthy condition is key if we want to save our salmon.
“That means we need policymakers to do much more, but we also need individuals to do what they can to aid the expansion of river woodlands, restore degraded peatlands, and reconnect waterways with their natural flood plains.”
The catch data released yesterday highlights that wild Atlantic salmon in much of Great Britain are endangered.
River restoration helps salmon during two periods of their lives – having the food and shelter available in cold clean water will help young fish develop, and a healthy habitat will aid adult fish to reproduce.
Peter Cairns, Executive Director of SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, said: “Salmon numbers reflect the state of our rivers, and river health is largely determined by the management of the surrounding land, so we need to think about the health of whole river catchments if we want to save our last salmon.”
Restoring river catchments and woodlands also helps with cleaner water, increased carbon storage, reduced flood risk, healthier soils and may improve the health and wellbeing of people.
Riverwoods’ awareness campaign includes films and stories to show how ecological restoration can bring Scottish rivers back to life.
Luke Comins of the Tweed Forum added: “We hope landowners, foresters and farmers will look at these films and real-life case studies and feel inspired to get in touch to discuss what can be done on the land they manage.”
The Riverwoods initiative, and their partners, hope the Scottish Government will make river restoration and salmon conservation a higher priority in their commimitments to biodiversity.
