Pow Burn Riverwoods

In April 2024 at the Community Hall, Symington Community Council screened the feature-length documentary; Riverwoods, filmed and produced by rewilding charity SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, “which tells the story of an inextricable relationship between fish and forest”.

 

“Riverwoods is a rallying call for restoring native woodland to Scotland’s river catchments and all the life they support.”

 

About 40 people attended, including guests Duncan Pepper (an angler who features in the film) and co-owner of River Revivers, Peter Livingstone of Eadha Enterprises, and Struan Candlish of Ayrshire Rivers Trust.

 

As well as members of the Symington community, we were pleased to have members of several other local communities attend, including from a number of community councils.

After the film, a proposal was presented for introducing riparian woodland along stretches of our local burns, along with a Q&A session with our three guests.

 

18 of the attendees completed a questionnaire, which asked 4 questions (answers in bold):

• Did you find the event interesting? (A great deal, A lot, A moderate amount, A little, None) 13 - A great deal, 5 - A lot

• Do you support the ideas presented? (A great deal, A lot, A moderate amount, A little, None)

  16 - A great deal, 1 - A lot , 1 - A moderate amount

• Was the message clear? (Yes, No) 18 - Yes

 

Subsequent to this screening, and since June 2024, Symington and Prestwick Community Councils have been collaborating to determine the feasibility of introducing riparian woodland along upper stretches of our local watercourse; the Pow Burn, with the aim of improving biodiversity and building resilience for a warming climate. To this end, we have engaged with the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Riverwoods project, the Farm Advisory Service (FAS), Ayrshire Rivers Trust (ART) and Scottish Forestry.