Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust

05/10/2026

What connects a healthy river, thriving wildlife and wh**ky? 🌿🥃

Cold, Clean Water.

Both rely on a steady supply of cold, clean water – making healthy river catchments essential not only for nature, but for the communities and industries that depend on them. 💧For the past two years, The River Within partnership has been working to protect and restore these vital landscapes across north-east Scotland.Since 2024, the Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Charitable Trust, Findhorn, Nairn & Lossie Rivers Trust, Chivas Brothers and Spey Catchment Initiative have been working together to deliver practical action across our river catchments.And the impact is already taking shape. 🌱This World Habitat Day, take a look at our latest film to hear from the people delivering this work on the ground – and discover what the partnership has achieved so far.

05/10/2026

What connects a healthy river, thriving wildlife and wh**ky? 🌿🥃
Cold, Clean Water.
Both rely on a steady supply of cold, clean water – making healthy river catchments essential not only for nature, but for the communities and industries that depend on them. 💧
For the past two years, The River Within partnership has been working to protect and restore these vital landscapes across north-east Scotland.
Since 2024, the Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Charitable Trust, Findhorn, Nairn & Lossie Rivers Trust, Chivas Brothers and Spey Catchment Initiative have been working together to deliver practical action across our river catchments.
And the impact is already taking shape. 🌱
This World Habitat Day, take a look at our latest film to hear from the people delivering this work on the ground – and discover what the partnership has achieved so far.

05/10/2026

🥇 Award Winning Science - Restoration with Purpose 🥇

We’re delighted that Project Deveron has won the Integrated Monitoring Across Water, Land & Air category at the 2026 Environmental Monitoring & Measurement Achievement awards.

This award recognises the science that sits at the heart of the project, but more importantly, for what that science is there to achieve.

Every fish counted by our ARIS sonar camera, every salmon PIT tagged and tracked, and every habitat survey and environmental dataset all contribute to a much bigger picture: understanding how the catchment works, where we can make the greatest difference, and whether restoration is delivering meaningful change.

That evidence is helping us target action across the catchment, reconnecting habitats, restoring riverside woodland, improving the resilience of spawning and nursery areas, and building a healthier river system for the future.

To restore wild Atlantic salmon, we need to do more than take action. We need to know that our actions are working - that is the essential role of monitoring.

A huge thank you to the dedication of our fieldwork teams from the Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust and Atlantic Salmon Trust for delivering this work in challenging locations and in all weathers. 💪

27/09/2026

🌊 World Rivers Day – The River Deveron

Today is World Rivers Day, so it seems like a good excuse to celebrate one of the most special rivers in the North East – our own River Deveron.

The Deveron runs for around 61 miles (96km), from its source high in the Cabrach, through some of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire’s best-known towns and villages, before reaching the sea at Banff and Macduff. Its catchment covers around 1,266 km².

But the Deveron is much more than just a river.

It has shaped the history of the communities along its banks for centuries. At Huntly, the original Peel of Strathbogie was built around 1190 to guard the important crossing where the River Bogie meets the Deveron.

Further downstream, Rothiemay has an even older story. The site of the old church beside the Deveron is associated with St Drostan and may date back as far as the 6th century.

Around Turriff, the river has long been part of a landscape dominated by farming and settlement. Turriff itself has medieval roots, with a hospital founded in the 13th century and becoming a Burgh of Barony in the early 1500s.

And right at the other end of the river, Banff grew around the Deveron estuary, where the river finally meets the Moray Firth.

Then there is the Cabrach, where the Deveron begins its journey. A very different landscape today, but once a remote community of around 1,000 people and a famous centre of illicit wh**ky making. The hills and glens around the river have stories of Jacobites, smugglers, old farms and communities that have long since disappeared.

And of course, there is the angling history.

The Deveron holds the UK record for the heaviest fly-caught salmon – the famous 61lb fish caught by Mrs Clementina “Tiny” Morison at Lower Shaws, Mountblairy, on 21 October 1924. A piece of Deveron history that still hasn’t been surpassed.

From the hills of the Cabrach, through Huntly, Rothiemay, Turriff and Deveronside, to Banff and the sea, the river has been part of people’s lives for generations.

That’s what makes the Deveron worth protecting.

Happy World Rivers Day.

22/09/2026

📢 Our 2025/26 Annual Report and Accounts are now available

We’re pleased to share the release of our 2025/26 Annual Report and Accounts, reflecting on the progress we’ve made over the past year and looking ahead to the opportunities and priorities that will shape the year ahead.

The report provides an overview of our performance, key achievements, financial results and the work we’ve undertaken to deliver on our strategic priorities.

We’d like to thank our members, colleagues, funders, partners and stakeholders for their continued support and contribution throughout the year.

📄 Read the full 2025/26 Annual Report and Accounts herehttps://www.deveron.org/site/wp-content/uploads/Dev-report-2026-3.pdf

15/09/2026

What an incredible evening celebrating our 25th Anniversary! 🎉

A huge thank you to the 200 wonderful guests who joined us for a very special evening of celebration, friendship and fundraising. We are absolutely delighted to share that, together, we raised an amazing £25,422!

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our fantastic sponsor, Bowlt's Chartered Surveyors and also Bacardi, for their generous support and helping make the evening such a success.

A very special thank you also goes to the Banff Springs Hotel for the wonderful food, warm hospitality and for looking after us all so beautifully.

We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who generously donated auction lots. Your incredible generosity helped make our auction such a success and played a very important part in helping us reach this fantastic fundraising total. We are grateful for your support.

And finally, a huge thank you to the talented pupils from Banff Academy — Tiwa Oluwaremi, Paige Mair, Suri Lee Myles and Tessa McAllan — for starting proceedings and telling us so beautifully about their inspiring Living River Project. It was wonderful to hear about their work and passion for the Deveron, and they were a real highlight of the evening.

Thank you to everyone who attended, sponsored, donated, bid and supported us over the years. £25,422 is an incredible achievement and a wonderful way to mark 25 years.

Here’s to the next 25! 🥂

📸 WILDigital

13/09/2026

10/09/2026

New farm cluster to support farmers and burns in King Edward Catchment.

The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust and partners are developing a new farm cluster in the King Edward Burn catchment in north Aberdeenshire near Banff. Following on from a successful farm cluster workshop held in Turriff in February, the project will bring farmers together to share knowledge, access advice and funding opportunities, and take practical steps to build more resilient and sustainable farms.

For 25 years, the Trust has worked to monitor and restore rivers across Aberdeenshire and Morayshire. The new farm cluster recognises that challenges such as flooding, water quality, soil health, climate change and nature loss extend beyond individual farm boundaries and are best tackled by working together across river catchments. The Moray Farm Cluster is a strong local example. It brings together 14 farmers and landowners across 6,600 hectares in the Laich of Moray, to work together on shared challenges.

The Trust is working together with organisations including NFU Scotland, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Atlantic Salmon Trust to provide farmers with practical support.

“Our goal is to ensure cold, clean water using practical solutions on farms that provide benefits for farmers while improving the environment for the long term.” Richie Miller, Director

Farmers joining the cluster can benefit from:

Tailored advice from Agri-Environment Farm Adviser Rosa Holt on soil health, cover crops, water management, riverbank erosion and integrating trees on farms.

Biodiversity audits to help farmers understand the nature already present on their farms and prepare for Scottish Government Whole Farm Plan requirements.

Access to funding opportunities to help support practical improvements on farm.

Farmer-to-farmer learning, sharing ideas, experience and practical solutions that can strengthen farm businesses.

Expert advice and training on invasive species control, including giant hogweed, through the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative.

This new farmer led cluster is about farmers working together to find practical solutions that benefit their businesses, their land and the wider King Edward catchment. Farmers in the King Edward Burn catchment (shown in map below) who would like to find out more are encouraged to contact Rosa Holt by email at [email protected] or phone 01466 711 388.