The Living River
The Clyde is Alive!
Once deemed a biologically dead, ‘zombie river’, the Clyde is slowly recovering and now hosts over 30 species of fish and banks teeming with wildlife. Post-industrial landscapes can and do recover, often with surprising results.
The 'Living River' project is focused on recording wildlife along a 6km section of the River Clyde from Glasgow Green to Cuningar Loop. We're looking for volunteers to submit observations and records of all kinds of flora and fauna and are keen to identify areas where invasive species are present - particularly Giant Hogweed, Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam.
How to Join
We use iNaturalist - a free, plant and animal identification and observation app for your phone, tablet or desktop. It uses image recognition technology paired with the knowledge and expertise of a worldwide community of volunteers to identify plants and animals in pictures that users share. Your contributions will be used by researchers, local environmental records centres, wildlife trusts and other conservation organisations to monitor and study biodiversity.
To Join 'The Living River'
- Create an Account:
- For desktop - create an account on the iNaturalistUK website (uk.inaturalist.org)
- For mobile phone/tablet - search for ‘iNaturalist’ on Google Play or the App Store.
- Search for 'the living river' under 'Projects' or go directly to www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-living-river.
- Click the green ‘Join’ button.
Don't worry if you don't know much about plants and animals - you can learn as you go, and there are teams of volunteer experts who will verify your submissions.
Stay Safe
Always stay well back from the river and banks when undertaking any observations. The path along the north bank of the river is well maintained, but there are sections along the south bank that are inaccessible and dangerous. Please don't take any unnecessary risks.
Ideally, go out with a friend or a group when you're taking observations, or let someone know where you're going and when you'll be back.
Try our family friendly activity trail
Want to learn more about the environmental history of the river? Try our interactive, family friendly quiz and trail, all about wildlife on the Clyde. Click the link below for the Desktop version, or download the app to your mobile phone.
The Living River: Wildlife on The Clyde
Know Your Non-Natives
Invasive, non-native species (INNS) are something we're very keen to map. The 'big three' - Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed and Giant hogweed, are all prevalent along this stretch of the river. They are very successful at spreading and quickly crowd out native species. In addition, Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam can cause erosion of the river banks when they die back in the winter. Giant hogweed is HIGHLY TOXIC and can cause severe skin burns - keep well away if you spot any!
