Waters’ journey inspired author’s latest book

IN his latest book Dumfriesshire author and naturalist Stephen Rutt dives into how water shapes our landscape and wildlife, and how we shape it in return.

‘The Waterlands’ follows a raindrop as it falls to the ground in the Lowther Hills of Scotland and travels through the landscape to the Firth of Clyde.

However, the movement of water through a landscape is not a two-dimensional linear journey. Some will get diverted into other wetlands including lochs, bogs and marshes. Stephen follows these water diversions, investigating their underappreciated beauty, where unique ecosystems flourish - and where water is, of course, central to their existence.

He looks at Threave Garden and Nature Reserve and their inspiring plan to make the reserve a fully restored wooded wetland, self-sustaining and resilient to the globally warmed wetter future.

As well as the Wigtown saltmarsh, Scotland’s second largest saltmarsh, where the water is spiked with salt and fluctuates wildly, the vegetation is stunted and variable.

Exploring geography, ecology, climate change, natural history and social history, The Waterlands is a captivating retelling of the water cycle.

Stephen said: “It is a story that takes us from the deep past of the dinosaurs to the near future of our water-stressed island, navigating our legacies of chemical pollution and sewage through to the re-wetted, rewilded places that show an alternative way forward.”

Stephen also looks into the threat posed to wetlands through Britain, which are disappearing faster than forests with many having been built on, reclaimed, polluted, diverted and dammed spots.

But the current state of things hasn’t left him despairing and he added: “While we have neglected our wetlands, and taken water for granted, ultimately the writing of this book left me hopeful for the future.”

A book launch will be held at Dumfries Waterstones on March 26 at 6 pm.