Habitat Improvement

Riverfly

Invasive Species

Water Quality Testing

RESP – River Eden Development Project

Habitat Improvement

There are many different ways of improving river habitats. Planting trees is one of the most important. River woodlands are the green arteries of ecosystems. Riparian woodlands create the vital natural habitats that maintain healthy rivers, they are biologically rich and provide a link between land and water. There is no set width or design for a river woodland, some ecosystems extend across valleys as far as the influence of groundwater, flood waters and humidity permit. Though these areas are different in every place, they are always integral to healthy rivers, land and people.

Funders

nature restoration fund logos
image or river eden fife
image oftree planters
image of group of tree planters for river eden fife
image of people tree planting
image of a young child planting a tree
image of a group of people who are ready to start tree planting
image of people ready to plant trees
river eden fife tree planters
image of woodland trust stall
image of fife tree planters
image of people planting trees
image of people planting trees
image of a man planting a tree
image of a man planting a tree
image of volunteers planting trees
image of cupar town river in the snow
image of river eden fife in the autumn
image of otters on river eden fife
image of willow and woody debris on river wards
image of speckled wood butterfly
image of riverside cupar riparian tree
image of scots pine on riverside in cupar
image of river by tailabout farm
image of alder sapling
image of willow catkin
image of waxwing
image of riparian trees
image of kingfisher with fish in mouth

Riverfly

Did you know that freshwater supports the greatest concentration of biodiversity on this planet? Whilst freshwater habitats cover less than 1% of the planetss surface, they support up to 10% of known species!

Objectives

What can we do to protect them?

Communities all over Scotland have been getting out and monitoring their rivers, including groups in Fife. The RESP riverfly group is part of a nationwide citizen science scheme trained in monitoring river invertebrates – this is done through Buglife Scotlandss ‘Guardians of our Riverss project.

Funders

nature restoration fund logos
buglife logo
people inspecting riverfly
image of people counting invertebrates
image of great diving beetle
image of people kicksampling by pitlessie bridge
people sampling riverfly by cow bridge
people in river sampling riverfly
image of riverfly volunteers
image of riverfly volunteers in fife
image of river fly volunteers in fife
image of people in the river sampling riverfly in river eden fife
image of spoon with riverfly
image of people meeting up for riverfly training
buglife logo
riverfly training heads down count
image of approved riverfly site cupar looking upstream
image of riverfly sample tray
image of riverfly recording sheet
image of people looking at riverfly and id charts
image of people running riverfly id session
image of small lamprey
image of people looking at riverfly
image of person in the water
image of spoon with bugs
picture of bugs on a white spoon
image of people studying bugs Ceres Burn Training
image of people looking at riverfly samples and charts

Invasive Species

As part of our Nature Restoration Fund award, RESP is developing a catchment management strategy for key INNS plant species following the methodology of the highly successful Scottish Invasive Species Initiative.

Objectives

What is RESP going to do?

For now, we are concentrating on plants. We are mapping the distribution of the plants throughout the catchments of the River Eden and Motray Water and their tributaries from source to sea. This will enable us to plan a catchment-wide strategy for control.

Funders

nature restoration fund logos
image of balsam
image of giant hogweed
image of giant hogweed on riverbank
image of giant hogweed
image of giant hogweed near farm
image of mink in cage
image of giant hogweed on river eden
image of giant hogweed
image of north american signal crayfish claw
image of pink salmon
image of himalayan balsam
image of giant hogweed on river eden

Water Quality Testing

The RESP Water Testing team has been formed to monitor the quality of the Edenss water and give insights into the issues affecting the river on its way to the sea.

Objectives

Our team of volunteers has been working to select and buy appropriate water testing equipment for this project with the aid of funding from the Crown Estates Environment Fund and support from The Angling Trust Water Quality Monitoring Network.

Funders

nature restoration fund logos
image of river
image of a river outflow
image of an outflow
image of water testing device
image of approved water testing strips
image of approved water sample bottle
image of water testing kit in the back of a van
image of 2 people water testing on the river eden in fife
image of a person pulling up a water testing tube from a bridge
image of a person water testing on a river bank
image of brown water river
image of approved water tester

RESP – River Eden Development Project

RESP has received funding from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot to investigate ways of improving biodiversity and controlling invasive non-native species (INNS)in the River Eden and Motray Water catchments.

Funders

nature restoration fund logos
image of bridge over river eden fife
image of river eden sustainability meeting
image of uprooted trees on river eden
image of stream on river eden fife
image of stream running off river eden fife
image of s bend on river eden fife
Image of Eden Angling Association signage
image of river eden under bridge
image of stream on river eden fife

Become a River Eden Volunteer

There are lots of ways to get involved with the RESP project. Volunteer with one of the project groups, come to the steering group or just keep in touch. The project needs a team of local volunteers, up and down the catchment, looking after our river.

There are lots of ways to get involved with the RESP project. Volunteer with one of the project groups, come to the steering group or just keep in touch. The project needs a team of local volunteers, up and down the catchment, looking after our river.