Large-scale conservation work across the Dee catchment has been given the green light thanks to a major cash injection of over half a million pounds.
A variety of projects comprising floodplain restoration, woodland expansion and peatland restoration will benefit both people and nature, boosting the region’s resilience to climate change, while improving habitats for biodiversity.
As part of a network of 22 projects across the Cairngorms National Park totalling some £43 million of funding from several sources including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Scottish Government, the work in the Dee, Spey and Esk catchments will comprise a two-year development phase followed by a five-year delivery phase of action on the ground.
Susan Cooksley, Dee Catchment Partnership manager and freshwater ecologist with the James Hutton Institute, will be spending a substantial part of her working week on the river restoration projects, managing the river and its tributaries to reinstate natural processes that will restore biodiversity, for the benefit of people and wildlife.