Wetlands

Borders Wetland Vision

The Planning & Economic Development department at Scottish Borders Council has been coordinating the Borders Wetland Vision project a strategic approach to wetland conservation in the area and a first for Scotland.

Scottish Borders holds wetland sites of national and international conservation importance. Wetlands can bring multiple benefits, from their nature conservation value, addition to landscape quality and buffering against flood events, to educational value, community value, tourism value and in some cases, recreational value and potential uses in pollution control.

What is a wetland vision?

The visioning process involves a strategic, mapped based approach to help identify where environmental enhancements for wetlands could be delivered in the future, using existing wetland areas of environmental value as a starting point. By doing so, we can help target national and local resources so that they are used efficiently and effectively to generate maximum public benefits from wetlands.

The project

The project began in the summer of 2005 and the first phase is now complete. The next phase of the project in 2006 will involve field survey of a small number of sites to help fine-tune the computer models by making comparisons with real wetlands. The information gained can also be used to inform the further conservation of these wetlands. Sites will only be surveyed where the landowner has granted permission.

Decision Support Tool

Working with the Local Biodiversity Action Plan partners, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Borders Biological Records Centre and Tweed Forum, the Council commissioned land use research specialists Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen to produce a wetlands database using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) that will identify the existing, historical and potential wetland sites within the Borders.

Macaulay Institute has produced a cutting-edge planning tool or Decision Support Tool, a computer-based model that can be analysed to see where benefits can be brought to manage wetlands for biodiversity conservation, where wetlands can be used to help manage flooding or to control diffuse pollution. It can also be used to guide opportunities for community wetlands and to protect archaeological interest. The Council will be using the computer models to help guide its sustainable flood management programme.

The next steps

The Council hope to further develop the Wetland Vision models to provide easy-to-use web-based maps that can be used by farmers, landowners and their advisers to inform options under Land Management Contracts and identifying where wetlands can provide habitat-based solutions to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive.

Funding for the project came from the then Scottish Executive under the Biodiversity Action Grant Scheme with some additional support from Scottish Natural Heritage and the Council.

For further details contact Andy Tharme, Ecology Officer, Planning & Economic Development on 01835-826514 or e-mail