24th November: River Dee project wins national award

A project to save threatened salmon in the River Dee has won one of the country’s most prestigious nature restoration awards.

The River Dee Trust’s Million Trees Campaign won the Nature and Climate Action Award in the 2023 Nature of Scotland Awards.

The Trust’s multi-million pound campaign was launched in 2020 to plant native trees on hundreds of miles of the river’s tributaries. They will provide cooling shade to reduce the soaring summer water temperatures that are threatening the river’s wildlife. More than 460,000 trees have already been planted.

The judges described the campaign as “An incredible project to preserve a precious habitat.”

Trust chair, Sandy Bremner said: “This is fantastic recognition for everyone involved – from the men and women who’ve worked through snowstorms to help deliver one of the biggest nature restoration projects in the Cairngorms, to the folk who’ve rattled collecting cans. It’s also recognition that we can all take action in the face of a climate crisis.”