Click on the video to see our year – wrapped up
As the last of the leaves fall from the trees and the river is reassuringly swollen with the winter rain, it’s time to take a look back at the year on the Water of Leith, and to celebrate the efforts of everyone who has contributed to caring for the river and it’s surrounding green spaces and parks.
Overall, contributions from our community volunteers, youth and community groups, and corporate volunteers totaled almost 9000 hours of work, which includes walkway maintenance, clean-ups, Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) management, meadow management, pollinator, wildflower, and riverfly surveys, self-led river patrols, and various other conservation tasks. This equates to a monetary value of almost £120,000, and over £500 in biscuits consumed at tea breaks!
Around 40% of the time contributed was focused on Walkway maintenance, which is essential to ensure that the Water of Leith remains as safe and accessible as possible. By cutting back encroaching vegetation and removing fallen leaves we make sure the width of the path is maintained, the surface holds it’s grip, and that the edges are clear and visible, helping to prevent potential accidents and injuries.
25% of volunteer time went towards cleaning up rubbish from the river and it’s banks, helping to prevent a range of harmful materials entering the water and the food chain, and increasing the general health and aesthetic beauty of the river. Removing litter benefits wildlife on the river banks and surrounding woodland with fewer plastics and other harmful materials leeching into the earth and water, and coming into direct contact with wildlife.
The remaining 35% of time donated by conservation volunteers was split between surveys, INNS work, and various other conservation tasks. Wildflower and pollinator surveys to assess whether our meadow management efforts are having the desired effects of both increasing native biodiversity and creating a vibrant green/blue corridor for wildlife travelling through the heart of Edinburgh and helping to connect wildlife to surrounding parks and green spaces. Riverfly surveys are conducted in the summer months which monitor invertebrate species in the water to indicate increased pollution events and the general quality of the water.
Our mission to remove some of the more harmful invasive flora species from the Water of Leith continued this year with groups out regularly in the spring and summer months to treat Giant Hogweed and remove Himalayan Balsam. Giant Hogweed numbers have reduced overall by roughly 50% from last year, leaving the river bank a safer, healthier place, and teams have been out regularly pulling up Balsam in various hotspots along the river to prevent it taking over. We have begun mapping Japanese Knotweed too, in an effort to develop a treatment plan in the coming years.
We’ve been engaging with local schools and community groups to promote our conservation efforts, and encourage a new generation of people to get involved with caring for the river. Various groups around Coalie Park have been coming together on a monthly basis to care for the park and maintain new features such as the mural and skatepark. It is hoped that the ‘Coalie Coalition’ will evolve into an independent ‘friends group’ style team of locals and park users who are empowered and enabled to care for Coalie more regularly, and help to continue the momentum gathered from the recent park renovations, to ensure the area remains an attractive space and a valuable community amenity.
Recent litter picking sessions with students from Balerno High School have been a great success in building connections with young people from S1 to S6, instilling belief that they can make a real difference and play an important role in preventing rubbish entering in the river from her most upstream urban area – helping to ease it’s flow downstream. A special shout-out to the group from S1, who amazingly managed to remove a large trampoline from the river and return it to it’s somewhat astounded owner!
Overall, it’s been a very busy, productive, and enjoyable year on the Water of Leith, with a large and diverse community of volunteers helping with all aspects of caring for the river. Thank you all for your effort, commitment, and company! Without this inspiring contribution we couldn’t do what we do! We hope you all enjoy a lovely festive season, and get a chance to put your feet up, enjoy time with loved ones and friends, and bask in the satisfaction of a job well done!