Last year we secured grant funding from North Carrick Community Benefit Fund, D’Oyly Carte Charitable Fund, Girvan Salmon Fishery Board, a landowner and the Patagonia World Trout Initiative to continue our work stabilising eroding sections of river banks in an effort to reduce the amounts of silt and sediment entering the watercourses.
Willow weaving is a simple process that provides a multitude of benefits. Weaving protects bankings from high flows, allows sediment deposition behind the woven structure and willow will grow into the bank to provide a living structure that becomes a part of the banking for years to come. The growth from the willows provides fantastic habitat for fish, which will seek sanctuary in the trailing foliage.
Tree planting and willow weaving both help stabilise vulnerable banks, reducing diffuse pollution (sediment entering the watercourse from the surrounding land and eroding banks). Diffuse pollution is one of the main contributors to decreases in water quality. Atlantic salmon, sea trout and brown trout require good water quality for spawning and gravel beds that are clean, loose and well oxygenated. Sediment from eroding banks can reduce water quality and choke spawning gravels, reducing the ability of fish to spawn successfully.
To maximise the benefits this project can provide we are looking for volunteers to help us collect and install willow spilling and brash bundles. If you are interested in helping with this project please get in touch with Struan Candlish at struan@ayrshireriverstrust.org or phone the office on 01292 737300.
This project is a fantastic way of helping to improve the habitat available to fish and invertebrates as well creating more stable, erosion resilient bankings. See the pictures below to get an idea of the type of work we will be doing over the coming weeks.