The Dingwall Green Gym teamed up with the Inverness Mid week group to tackle some 3Km of river bank Rhododendron clearance. The battle down the snowy track and slippery path to reach the work site was rewarded with stunning views along the icy River Orrin in Easter Ross.
We joined staff from the Cromarty Firth Fisheries trust in cutting and burning huge stands of Rhododendron ponticum that had colonised the bank to the detriment of most other plant species and were shading out important river spawning pools for trout and salmon.
The biggest challenge was to keep the fire going as the heavy snowfall over January and February had made the wood very soggy. The efforts of the super fire-raising VO’s Ryan and Darragh were much appreciated by the volunteers as the temperature plummeted to -6 degrees celsius!