Renaturalising the Calder

In many river catchments, Scotland’s wild salmon are in freefall. While scientists frantically search for answers to a complex issue, restoring native woodland and reigniting natural processes in upland rivers, could deliver benefits for both fish and people.

[@johnhutchison2268]

I feel as Scot’s we are diverted by the beauty of our landscape. In reality it is a treeless desert over grazed by deer and sheep. We need to replicate this project right over the highlands and where appropriate the islands as well

[@user-sp3wd2nn3e]

reminds me of the lake district 40 years ago. People thought all those bare hillsides covered in sheep were beautiful. Now that more people have traveled internationally to wilderness areas, they know better what a wild landscape should actually look like.

[@freeforester1717]

When the impacts of salmon farming around the West coast are addressed, the salmon will return in numbers. It’s by no accident that Chile has stopped salmon farming along its coastline - they realised the devastating consequences of salmon farming for their marine environment and the life forms it supported.

[@freppers2666]

Shocking how denuded this landscape is. It looks like the moon! Great work to improve the tributary and plant more trees. Good luck with the project, we need more work like this to repair our damage to the natural environment

[@grond21]

Once you get some riparian habitat going, and now that beavers are approved you should bring some in. That would truly restore the natural stream environment and wetland

[@shawnbrooks1004]

As an American, who has never visited your country, thank you for all you are doing to "take back" your country! One of my life goals is to catch (I only fish for wild natives) a "natural" steelhead from a UK (Scottish!!!) stream/river, and although I may never get there to do so, thank you for keeping my dream alive!!!

[@Jerbod2]

I think all those mountains should be forested like before.

[@LiterallyOverTheHillAdventures]

As has already been said, once you get the riparian trees growing, put some BDAs (Beaver Dam Analog) in to help put the stream into its flood plain and bring on some beaver. They tend to stay in an area if you have a food source and some deeper water, the BDAs create the perfect environment for the beavers to take hold and form a colony. Atlantic salmon evolved with beavers and they have no problem dealing with their dams, plus they tend to migrate during high water season which often creates channels around the dams.

[@guameldestruir6239]

Only very recently in 2008 were European beaver reintroduced to a woodland in Scotland and i took permission from the government for that to happen, only in 2016 was it decided to allow them to stay permanently. To introduce them into other ecosystems in Scotland i would imagine the government would need to rubber stamp it as well. I know of the benefits of beaver in warmer climates but i am genuinely curious if they carry over to milder climates like Scotland.

[@LiterallyOverTheHillAdventures]

@@guameldestruir6239 They live from subtropical regions to the arctic in the western hemisphere. European beaver are doing very well in subarctic and arctic regions of the Nordic states.

[@iwanabana]

would love to hear an update / follow-up from this channel!

[@overlander123]

"Investment for the future" - Nice work.

[@soulshadoww55]

Please update us when you start planting the trees and bring in the beavers. I'd love to see the start of renewed woodlands, especially near the river. The land is beautiful but so barren.

[@earthfriendly5799]

Great project this is really heart warming.

[@mrjonesyyy]

Beavers are obviously needed.

[@richardparker7121]

Yeah but there’s really not enough trees there yet for the beavers..

[@Nitka022]

Uuuuuu..so so barren and empty! So many trees are needed there!! The whole place in that valley should be forested! AND plant some shrubs as well...and than bring the beavers! Best river engineers on this planet! Huge work in front of you guys! You should employ army of people for the planting.....

[@mrjonesyyy]

Beavers!!!

[@richardparker7121]

They are too busy criticizing 3rd world nations for destroying the environment so that takes up all their time and money for being able to plant trees. I think they said this was on an “Estate”. I’m not sure but sounds like this land is owned by some rich nobility family and crazily enough these freaks still want SHEEP everywhere. Maybe it helps remind them of the sheeple they still also rule over…

[@robertclarke7848]

This is amazing work

[@Ralphieboy]

We knock down trees we wear high heels...

[@Stupha_Kinpendous]

1:26 "We knock down trees..." Immediately after hearing that bit, I expected him to go into a Monty Python routine, but was hugely disappointed.

[@jwornell2114]

great work

[@nbandpinportugal]

Can you renaturalise and clean up the River Calder in West Yorkshire ?

[@ireview4006]

The landscape has been stripped barren by the landowners but 'scientists frantically search for answers to a complex issue'. It isn't complex. Replant the forests around the rivers. Put back natural water courses. Reintroduced the animals that were wiped out. It is an easy solution, but requires wealthy estate owners to care about wildlife and nature rather than their grouse and deer shoots and subsidy farming. I understand rewilding conservationists have to work with these landowners to make change, and as such they cant openly go around blaming these people for maintaining a barren wasteland, but I can.

[@ireview4006]

And not to bang on about it, but this video is all about making the river better for people to go fish salmon, nothing about helping the balance of nature. I will never understand how the landowner isnt ashamed for being responsible for maintaining this barren wasteland.

[@Litheon11]

@@ireview4006 when you are born into wealth like these landowners, you often end up being too privileged to suffer from shame. They simply don’t know any better.

[@mr2981]

@@Litheon11 Yeah, I don't see the downtrodden wringing their hands much about the state of nature, either. And when they do, it'salmost always from an 'environmental justice' perspective, i.e. how environmental problems impact their lives. And so we come full circle.

[@ireview4006]

@@mr2981 You are right, although I would say that to someone who doesn't have any land holdings (let's say low income with no land ownership) there is at least the excuse that they have limited power to directly change anything on a large scale even if they wanted to, and one might argue that they have more urgent things to worry about. I struggle to have the same tolerance for people who are born with, let's say for argument, 1000 acres of barren upland, and the means to do something about it. But still I do agree. It is the publics misconception of barren, sheep grazed wet deserts as the normal British landscape that prevents more rapid policy change. In my experience, people hear the word 'Lynx' or ' Wolf' and they act as if there are going to be packs of wolves roaming around the local primary schools!.

[@Lee-nh5bb]

@@ireview4006 Please do bang on about it; you make a lot of sense!

[@Jajauq7rjc]

Why not just plant woodland 10 meters from river outwards. Along the river..

[@aldencollins]

thats the plan but they need to create deer fencing so animals dont eat all the trees they plant.

[@mozdickson]

THANK YOU.

[@philliperskine4986]

that whole area looked sad. No trees planted for years? Why?

[@josemartinezgonzalez2450]

Espectacular proyecto de reconstrucción 🤝

[@koholohan3478]

Love seeing large wood debris in rivers.

[@peterfarrell8520]

If my memory serves me correctly, I can remember fisheries experts . Heaving bales of straw into many of our water-ways. Naturally darkening the water’s the same way leaves & rotten vegetation would. I apologise for having an old-person’s moment. The scientific reason concerns aiding the fish in the fertilisation of their eggs. How ever Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 knows what the forestation was like in the good old days. When fish were in their abundance & conservation was never 👎 mentioned!

[@patent-freemrsatreatmentdo3789]

Bring back the beavers

[@cms9902]

Lacking woodland all over!

[@richardparker7121]

Plant more trees please!

[@goodtutt4733]

Hi 👋 I’m wondering why this video has musical sounds included. Why do viewers have to hear that as part of the presentation? Was this done for any particular reason? Who chose it ? Why? Do you have a version of this video without the awful audio? I am genuinely interested.

[@vivalaleta]

Agreed. It's too loud and repetitious.

[@ConstantChaos1]

Id do a lot of rewilding near the river myself Like down to the animals

[@defoe9864]

Any update?

[@gordon4228]

Have they no beavers ? Save yourselves a fortune ..

[@neilshahndynasty.8882]

Buy Silver & Platinum

[@user-sp3wd2nn3e]

You could have all those environmental benefits simply by returning wolves to the landscape.

[@davidbamford4721]

Hey Penny, have you hurt your arm?

[@weaksohyeah]

Why not just replant? Temperate rainforest anyone lol? Fuck the fucking grouse I'm sorry (and of course sorry that I'm sure I've misunderstood 1000 things here, and to top it off am not anthropocentric by nature)

[@gordon1545]

The music in this video is truly awful. Please avoid the kind of corporate noise you'd get on a fossil-fuel company's greenwashing propaganda.