Auchnascraw Water Margins Project

Improving riverside habitat along the Crombie Burn through small-scale planting and partnership working.

This project forms part of Chivas Brothers’ The River Within programme, which supports practical, collaborative action to protect and restore rivers across the Spey catchment.

The Auchnascraw Water Margins Project focuses on improving riverside habitat along the Crombie Burn, in the Braes of Glenlivet. The burn flows through a working upland farming landscape and currently has very little natural tree cover along its banks.

Delivered by the Spey Catchment Initiative in partnership with a local tenant farmer, the project has been designed to work within existing farming operations and demonstrate how small, well-planned interventions can deliver real benefits for rivers, wildlife and land management.

A new corridor of trees alongside the Crombie Burn in the Braes of Glenlivet

Project Delivery: What did we do?

Designed a small-scale riparian planting project along around 800 metres of the Crombie Burn
Planted approximately 1,000 native trees, including alder, aspen, birch and cherry
Worked largely within existing stock fencing to minimise disruption to farming activity, adding in a small new area of fencing where needed.
Worked with RSPB to deliver wader habitat improvements
Oversaw planting, fencing and early maintenance to support successful establishment

Why it matters

The Crombie Burn is an important tributary of the Livet with very limited riverside tree cover. The Braes of Glenlivet community and some eight farms along the burn, mean that riparian areas along the Crombie are key in-bye land for farmers, particularly important during lambing. This has naturally led to pressures of grazing, stock access and reduced habitat quality and resilience, as trees are lost and habitat unable to regenerate.

Creating native riparian woodland here will help shade the water and restore missing habitat for freshwater wildlife, including Atlantic salmon. The project also supports wading bird conservation by carefully balancing planting with the needs of open habitats.
The planted area might be small but it’s strategically important on this stretch of the Crombie – where scale of conservation on in-bye land needs to recognise other pressures for a tough upland farming business.

As part of The River Within, this project shows how working in partnership with farmers can deliver practical improvements for rivers without compromising farm businesses. Demonstration projects like this help build confidence and trust, creating potential for further partnerships with other farmers in the community.

Learn more about the benefits of riparian woodland

Learn more about this project

Deep dive into this project by downloading the full project report below.

Download the full project report

Or for further inquiries, collaboration, or additional information about the project, please email Penny Lawson, SCI Project Officer.

Project Updates

None to date

Partners and support

This project was delivered by the Spey Catchment Initiative as part of Chivas Brothers’ The River Within programme, in partnership with the MacGillivray family at Auchnascraw to whom we’re really grateful.

RSPB have been involved in advising rash cutting as part of their wader conservation work, and the project aligns with land management objectives for Crown Estate Scotland’s Glenlivet Estate.