News for: Scottish Natural Heritage
Pearls In Peril project update
Article by Jackie Webley (Scottish Natural Heritage): "LIFE NATURE has granted the ‘Pearls in Peril’ (PIP) project a six month extension and we will now continue to 2nd March 2017. PIP has been busy completing all our project actions across sites in Scotland, England and Wales and now has the opportunity to do a bit more."
Improvements to the River Dee as part of a £3.5m project to improve habitat for freshwater pearl mussels
Gravel embankments will be removed along 500m of the Allt an t-Slugain burn near Braemar to restore habitat for the rare freshwater pearl mussel and for salmon.
The embankments were constructed in the 1980s to prevent the burn from spilling onto the adjacent grazing land during high flows. However, in some cases embankments can increase flood risk downstream by reducing temporary floodplain water storage. They can also affect the river channel by increasing flow speed and depth, leading to riverbed erosion, and reducing in stream habitat for mussels and fish.