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The Calder is a large upland tributary of the Spey running through beautiful Glen Banchor above the village of Newtonmore. Recent concerns that, compared to other similar tributaries, the Calder was under-performing in terms of producing juvenile salmon were thought to be linked to the lack of riparian woodland along the river and the relatively uniform nature of the river bed, which lacked features such as the gravel deposits needed for fish spawning.

Imagine a world where there are nature rich spaces, open and accessible to everybody, within a mile from everybody’s homes. The things that give our landscapes character and sense of place, such as dry-stone walls of the Yorkshire Dales, the hedgerows of the midland shires, or the parks and street trees in our towns and cities, are intact and flourishing. Businesses of all types, including farms, are drawing value and earning an income from natural assets, be that being paid for the value that pollinators bring to the food chain, or being able to run wildlife tourism businesses.

In Scotland, beavers became a European Protected Species in May 2019. Their numbers have expanded across Tayside and beyond in recent years, centuries after they became extinct. Beavers are amazing ecosystem engineers, playing a vital role in creating habitats such as ponds and wetlands where other species thrive, alleviating flooding and improving water quality. But beavers also detrimentally impact on some areas of prime farmland by causing flooding of fields.