Everyone who supports nature-based landscape change, biodiversity and climate recovery in Perthshire can now vote for the Upper Tay Catchment Communities plans.

One of twelve Riverwoods ‘Investment Readiness’ Pioneers proposals, Upper Tay Catchment Communities will unlock opportunities for innovation in nature-finance and provide specialist support to help deliver change faster and further for the local area’s natural environment.

To vote for your favourite Riverwoods projects across Scotland, share your thoughts and ideas on them, and read more, visit https://riverwoodspioneers.communitychoices.scot/

Voters will get to vote for three of their favourite projects. Voting deadline is 29 November 2022.

Read Upper Tay Catchment Communities page at https://riverwoodspioneers.communitychoices.scot/budgets/1/investments/8

Restored limestone grassland, ex-forestry, near Schiehallion © PKCT

Upper Tay Catchment Communities is being driven forward by Perthshire Nature Connections Partnership (PNCP) - a long-term, nature-based vision to create a connection across Highland Perthshire between the Cairngorms and the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Parks. It works with a range of organisations across community, environment and land management to promote integrated, large-scale ecological restoration of a sustainable and resilient landscape that provides environmental, socio-economic and health and wellbeing benefits to communities and land-managers.

Riverwoods Investment Ready Pioneers project stream is being led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership with Democratic Society and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and provides an opportunity for communities, landowners and other stakeholders to work together to identify Riverwoods projects that have the potential to be financed using new mechanisms beyond traditional grants.

Natural flood management, water quality, biodiversity, engagement with nature and carbon will provide the initial focus for exploration of new ways of bundling and selling the benefits created.

David Tollick, Conservation Officer at Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust, who manage PNCP, said:

The time has arrived for landscape-scale change on the ground, which will put Natural Capital ‘in the bank’ for us all – we have been overdrawn for too long. PNCP knows where our area can deliver vitally important landscape changes, supporting biodiversity and addressing climate change.

Our transition to a nature-based landscape needs supporting as nature in our area faces a worrying future, which is why we’ve submitted Upper Tay Catchment Communities as a Riverwoods project.

Our local communities can be as nature-based as can any area’s communities – they are adaptable and innovative; but they must not be left behind. The landscape is not ‘urban’ or ‘rural’ capital – it is natural capital for everyone.

PNCP believes nature capital is for everyone, will enable change-projects to deliver however best we can with support from partners like Riverwoods.

For more on PNCP, please visit https://www.pkct.org/Pages/Category/perthshire-nature-connections-partnership.

For more information on Riverwoods Investment Ready Pioneers, please visit: https://www.riverwoods.org.uk/project/riverwoods-investment-readiness-pioneers/