19th February: Hundreds of trees flattened by Storm Arwen used to protect fish

Around 16 million trees were damaged in woodlands across Scotland during the deadly Storm Arwen in late 2021.

More than 300 from a wooded site near Banchory in Aberdeenshire will now be transported to a site near Braemar, where they’ll be repurposed to give shelter to dwindling salmon populations in the River Dee.

The project is the latest in a string of concerted efforts to boost numbers in the Dee, which is synonymous with salmon fishing.

Once the trees are anchored in position, the flows around them produce the ideal spawning habitat for salmon and trout.

They also create shelter against floods and predators and thermal refuges for both young fish and adults.