Nature Restoration Fund worth £193,000 for Perth & Kinross

The £193,000 allocated to Perth & Kinross from the fund for 2022/23 will be used to fund both council and community projects including:

• 7 Community Greenspace projects
• 2 Education & Learning projects
• 2 Tayside Biodiversity Partnership projects
• 7 Community run projects

All of these projects will help to address the nature and climate crisis by enhancing biodiversity across Perth and Kinross, providing essential habitat restoration and connectivity.

Councillor Richard Watters, convenor of Perth & Kinross Council's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee, said: "These nature restoration projects are key to building healthy ecosystems, to help protect and reverse the decline of our biodiversity throughout Perth and Kinross, creating a natural environment that can be enjoyed by all."

Projects by PKC Community Greenspace are:

Forest Plan Works in a number of locations to carry out site management objectives, restore native habitat or deliver community projects on forested sites at:

• Birks of Aberfeldy
• The Knock
• Blackspout Wood
• St Magdalenes Hill
• Alyth Den

Removal of Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed at Craigie Burn & Tay.

Investment in pedestrian machinery with interchangeable flail head and scythe attachment for meadow management use by community groups. This includes purchasing two tractor units, two flail heads, and two scythe units.

Kinnoull Hill SSSI work includes contractor time to remove scrub and trees from heathland areas to improve habitat and open up summit views. Heathland will be re-seeded following clearance works. Scrub and trees will also be cleared from meadow areas at Barnhill & Corsiehill to keep previously cultivated areas from succession.

St Magdalene’s Hill Meadows and Grassland will be improved through clearance of scrub at meadows and other grassland areas. Will also involve investigating biodiversity improvements to storm ponds.

Jeanfield Flood Prevention will include tree planting in sections E and F in Wellshill.

Closed Cemeteries Management involves cutting back and removing invasive species, and creating new areas for pollinators throughout zero maintenanced cemeteries in 20 closed cemeteries.

Projects by PKC Education and Learning are:

Rewilding Comrie by Comrie Primary School and Parent and Friends Association involves forming a wet scrape with riparian planting of native trees and plants in the school grounds.

Rewild my School by Luncarty Primary School involves creating the following habitats within the school grounds: native woodland, native hedgerow, wildflower meadow, beebank, and a wildlife pond.

Projects by Community groups are:

Rewilding Denmarkfield Wildflower Meadow Creation Project in Luncarty will restore a 3.15ha Species Rich Grassland corridor along their northern boundary.

Riverside Heather Garden Riparian Restoration Project by Beautiful Perth will restore the riverside heather garden riparian area with native planting to create a more diverse riparian habitat.

Crook of Devon Community Orchard and Pollinator Project by Crook and Drum Growing Together will involve extending the small community orchard and planting pollinators and bulbs along the edge to create a wildlife corridor for insects.

SuDS Pond Enhancement Project by Tayside Biodiversity Partnership will restore and/or enhance 15 SuDS across PK. At least two of the following will be undertaken: clearing excessive plant life; removing any non-native invasive species present; ensuring the pond is safe for hedgehogs; encouraging amphibians and invertebrates; planting native plant species; and where appropriate, encourage gullypot surveys and provide amphibian ladders.

Glassie Bike Park Rewilding involves planting up native tree species in an area devastated by storm Arwen and an open meadow area that goes along a core path that goes through the Glassie Bike Park in Aberfeldy and add in missing species to the overall biodiversity of the flora and fauna.

Kinross Rain Gardens Trail by Kinross-shire Civic Trust aspires to create a trail that increases the natural biodiversity of the area through restoring and enhancing its wetland habitats. This will be done through creating new ponds, excavating material, removing invasive species, and using excavated native plants to improve the wetland habitats.

River Almond Giant Hogweed Project by Tayside Biodiversity Partnership will bring together local volunteers, SISI (Scottish Invasive Species Initiative), the TBP and Perth & Kinross Council to survey Giant Hogweed infestations at the River Almond and put in place an eradication programme to remove the invasive species from the area.

Dun Coillich Wetlands by Highland Perthshire Communities Land Trust involves commissioning an ecologist to advise on the best way to improve wetland habitats at Dun Coillich such as improving existing ponds, creating new ponds or scrapes, and mapping and restoring areas of peatland. Ponds will be restored in this phase of works.

Rannoch and Tummel Firepit and Scorch mark restoration by Loch Rannoch Conservation Association involves planting native tree and shrub saplings to replace those cut down by visitors to burn on fires and increase density of vegetation to bring them back to native loch shore woodland. It will also involve removal of ash contaminated soil from the scorch marks and replacing with sterile soil and where applicable native types of grass seeds and wildflowers to restore woodland undergrowth.