Flood Bank Realignment

Description

This collaborative project with SBAG address recurring concerns over beaver burrowing and floodbank breaches on high-value farmland along the River Isla, a major tributary of the River Tay (SAC). By realigning a floodbank and creating a wider more natural river corridor with willow buffer strip we intend to increase bank resilience, reduce beaver impacts and enhance biodiversity. Two participating agricultural landowners will trial setback embankments and habitat features including beaver mounds to encourage coexistence. The approach integrates agricultural resilience with river naturalisation, monitored by the river Restoration Centre and Beaver Trust to inform future coexistence strategies to promote biodiversity. Lot 1: Beaver Trust is seeking a suitably experienced contractor to deliver the River Isla Renaturalisation Demonstration project near Coupar Angus. The works comprise the removal and realignment of approximately 1.7 km of existing flood embankment, construction and compaction of a replacement embankment approximately 20 metres into the floodplain, and creation of four artificial beaver mounds. The project aims to increase floodplain resilience, reduce the risk of beaver burrowing affecting flood defences and demonstrate a nature-based approach to coexistence between beavers and agricultural land use. No in-channel works are proposed