UK Stream Restauration and the Use of Biodegradable Tree Guards
Pierre Talpe
Rainbow Professional, Ltd
Hull, UK
Steff Ferguson
Dee District Salmon Fishery Board
Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, UK
The United Kingdom, comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, is currently under the spotlight for having one of the lowest levels of woodland cover in Europe at around 13%, compared to an average European number of 45%. Political parties are united in the drive to plant more trees to combat climate change, lock up carbon, provide timber (UK imports over 95%), and allow additional recreational opportunities. One of the many constraints to planting and restocking existing woodlands is the welfare and management of the watercourse systems and the use of plastic tree guards, especially within riparian zones. Rainbow has launched a fully biodegradable plant- and wood-based tree guard that supports, rather than potentially harms the existing natural environment.
We will look at case studies using tree guards surrounding watercourse habitats found in UK woodland. Project objectives and outcomes and on-going management issues will be discussed, particularly considering climate change considerations.
About Pierre Talpe
Coming Soon
About Steff Ferguson
Steff Ferguson is a riparian habitat adviser for the Dee District Salmon Fishery Board (DDSFB) in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK.
The DDSFB covers the catchment of the River Dee, which rises in the Cairngorm Mountains National Park and enters the North Sea at Aberdeen. Over the last 10 years Steff has been working in the Habitat Restoration team to expand riparian woodland along deforested upland tributaries, as well as implementing shorter term habitat restoration projects such as large wood structure installation, floodplain and channel reconnection. The main focus of the work is to halt the drastic decline of the Dee’s Atlantic salmon and freshwater pearl mussel populations by improving the riparian and instream habitat and helping the river system to become more climate change resilient.
In addition to working for the DDSFB, Steff also operates as a freelance ecologist, specialising in protected species survey and impact mitigation planning/licensing, as well as providing conservation management advice to farmers and other landowners.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steff-ferguson-7022a742/