Use Riparian Planting to Restore River and Stream Banks

Much of what we do in sustainable land management and permaculture design revolves around repairing the damage that humanity has done. How and where we are able to do so is a very important thing to consider and to talk about as we aim to move forwards into a more eco-friendly and sustainable future. 

Restoring riverbanks (as well as the rivers themselves) is one key area of restoration to think about. 

Whether you have a river on your own property or are looking at getting involved with a riverbank restoration scheme in the broader area where you live, here are some things that you should know about restoring riverbanks with the right riparian planting, riparian buffer zones, and potential reintroductions.

Riparian Planting

Where riverbanks have become damaged or degraded, this most often means that the normal riparian planting along the river's length has been lost or is no longer in its natural state. 

So if we are looking to restore a riverbank, then one important area to look at is riparian planting. Often, the replanting of trees and other native vegetation along a waterway is the most important step in its restoration. 

Allowing new trees to grow along a river, or planting them ourselves, or otherwise replacing the natural vegetation that has been lost due to deforestation, grazing pressures, etc., are important steps to take. 

The correct riparian planting scheme for a particular setting can improve water quality, manage flood risk and boost biodiversity. 

Trees and shrubs can also cool the water temperature and make rivers and their attendant ecosystems better able to cope with rising global temperatures. The degree of shade that will be beneficial for a river will be key and is an important thing to establish in any scheme. 

Determining the correct riparian planting means working out the right vegetation mix for a particular area and a given location. The plants found naturally along a waterway will depend on the native vegetation mix in a specific place. 

Riparian Buffer Zones

In certain situations, it may be beneficial to create special riparian buffer zones along the banks of a river or stream. The idea is that these zones are protected zones, free from too much human intervention, protected from overgrazing, kept free of traffic or machinery, and so forth.

The riparian buffer should reflect the size of a waterway and the natural dimensions of the functional riparian zone. It should be an area left untouched by farming, forestry operation, or other human activity—left for wildlife and functioning ecology to be established. 

Buffer zones may be made up of forest or woodland, or other native riparian planting to allow for the formation of wonderful wildlife habitats such as wet meadows or other wetland areas.

The idea is that these buffer zones, even when surrounded by functional food-producing areas or areas of human use or occupation, can be set aside as a haven for wildlife and become corridors for their movement at landscape scale. 

Interestingly, sometimes we do not need to plant up riparian zones ourselves but can simply fence off or otherwise protect an area so that native vegetation can establish on its own over time, without the pressures that previously kept it at bay. 

Re-Introductions for Riparian Ecosystems

Sometimes, creating the perfect natural environment for a particular location might require some additional thought. Sometimes, we might amend the slope of a riverbank or contour the bank differently around a curve in order to reduce erosion or slow the speed of flow. 

Of course, these are specialist things that lay people might easily get wrong. Often, therefore, rather than taking a DIY approach, we might enlist some help from the experts.

And not necessarily human ones. 

An interesting thing to consider when it comes to riparian restoration is that sometimes, re-introductions of native ecosystem engineers can help to make sure that ecological balance is reached. Beaver introductions here in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK are one of the most obvious examples. 

Whether reintroductions need to be made or not, when we get things right when it comes to riparian planting, we will find that much of the wildlife that naturally re-appears will play a role in shaping the river, its banks, and the surroundings in a range of different ways. 

And wildlife, whether already present or newly introduced, can be just as important as plants in creating a functioning ecological system on the banks of any river or stream over time.