
Improving habitats and climate resilience of the Luce
Enhancing habitat and climate resilience.
At GFT we are working across several major river systems in south west Scotland to address the issues presented by our rapidly changing climate.
The Water of Luce is a medium size river system that flows south into Luce Bay, to the east of Stranraer. Unlike surrounding areas, very little conifer afforestation has taken place within the Water of Luce catchment and the upper catchment is predominantly used for sheep farming.

Alder, rowan and birch amongst other native species have established well.
The watercourses of the upper catchment are particularly vulnerable to increasing summer temperatures due to the lack of shade providing riparian trees. The upper catchment is also predominately peatland which has been drained to improve its suitability for sheep grazing, but with unintended consequences of making the landscape and watercourses increasingly vulnerable to flooding and drought.
The draining of the surrounding peatlands has also had adverse impacts on water quality, increasing the acidity of some watercourses as well as their dissolved organic carbon content resulting from the erosion of peat.
A GFT review of the Luce catchment prioritised several locations for habitat enhancement work to help restore salmon populations including on the upper Main Water of Luce and a major tributary of this, the Laganabeastie Burn. These locations were prioritised through the output of a model that considering a range of fisheries and environmental data.
Location of sites in Galloway - Laganabeastie Burn and upper Main Water of Luce
In 2020, GFT secured funding from NatureScot, through the Biodiversity Challenge Fund (BCF) to plant 1,800 trees in 20 enclosures to provide a seed source for further tree regeneration in the future and to provide shading to the burns. A further 900 trees in 10 new enclosures were added in 2021 thanks to funding from NatureScot's Nature Restoration Fund.
Work like this is required where sheep or deer grazing prevents the natural regeneration of trees, especially where there are few seed sources. We planted within large fenced enclosures to protect the young trees from grazing, whilst maintaining the livestock's access to the watercourse. The enclosures were sited strategically so as to provide shade to areas of the channel where suitable juvenile salmonid habitat existed, providing optimal benefits from the trees.
Introduced woody debris pinned into the Luce
In addition to tree planting, GFT also implemented instream habitat improvements through the addition of woody debris. Logs were brought to site and pinned into the river channel. This work improves instream habitat as well as diversifying flows, scouring out pools, encouraging deposition of gravels and promoting a range of other habitat creating natural processes. Logs were also used to stabilise some eroding banks.
Tree planting enclosures from second year of planting.
We have so far observed a high survival rate of planted trees, despite the harsh upland conditions of the area. Trees that didn't survive initially (this is to be expected in all planting schemes) have been replanted each winter since the work took place and many tree guards have been removed where the trees have grown well.
GFT will continue to monitor these sites, removing tree guards as soon as possible and expanding the work throughout the surrounding area. With a view to enhancing overall habitats and the climate resilience of the upper Luce, it is desirable that the habitat works are complimented with restoring key areas of surrounding peatlands. We are currently working with local landowners to monitor water quality and have completed peat depth surveys in order to inform and advise potential peatland restoration initiatives.
Following GFT highlighting this area of the upper catchment as a priority area for restoration, we identified poor water quality in the Pilhatchie Burn. The upper part of this burn has been afforested in the past so Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) agreed to cut back naturally seeded conifers from along the length of the burn in 2021/2022. This work will help improve both habitats and water quality.
Many thanks to the owner and farm managers of Lagafater Estate, FLS and NatureScot.
A Brown trout from the Main Water of Luce