Environment Minister views pioneering river restoration project

The Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse has been visiting Carr-Bridge in the Cairngorms National Park this morning (Monday 29 April) to view ‘shovel ready’ projects including a pioneering river restoration project, instigated by the Spey Catchment Initiative, which will help to restore valuable riparian habitat and contribute to flood alleviation downstream.

Mr Wheelhouse was shown the work that has been done to restore the Allt Lorgy which joins the River Dulnain, a tributary of the Spey. The river had been straightened in the past, mainly for agricultural purposes, but this resulted in degraded salmon spawning habitat and affected the way the water flows downstream, especially at times of high flow.

Now, with funding from the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), the Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Woodlands Trust Scotland and the Spey Fishery Board, work has been undertaken to restore the river to a more natural state.