The River Dee Trust
To protect and restore the River Dee for the benefit of native wildlife, the community, and its future generations
The River Dee Trust works to protect and restore the 81-mile River Dee, which stretches from the Cairngorms to the North Sea in Scotland. Salmon populations have been suffering for decades due to habitat loss, climate change, and environmental pollution. Globally, salmon are on track to be functionally extinct in most of their natural habitats within 20 years. In order to preserve the health of the river and help prevent local salmon extinction, The River Dee Trust has embarked on a 20-year project in partnership with the Dee District Salmon Fishery Board and Atlantic Salmon Trust titled Save the Spring.
This landscape-scale project will involve planting native species along river banks to reduce water temperature, restoring peatland and wetland areas to improve water quality and flood resistance, and river channel re-naturalization to foster diverse in-stream habitats. Other aspects of the project will involve monitoring progress, translocating fish, communications with the public, engaging with stakeholders & of course further fundraising for this huge ongoing effort. In 2024, Bently Foundation awarded River Dee Trust with a grant for £200,000 to support the habitat restoration aspect of their Save the Spring project.
