RIVERTOOL

Tool Description

RIVERTOOL (Riparian Vegetation Ecosystem Services-based Ranking Tool) is a web-based spatial decision-support tool designed to identify priority locations for riparian woodland creation and buffer planting. The tool supports river catchment management and ecosystem restoration by helping users evaluate where interventions may provide the greatest ecosystem service and environmental benefits.

RIVERTOOL is intended to support collaborative planning and discussion among stakeholders by allowing users to explore how different priorities and weighting choices influence outputs. The tool was developed for non-commercial use and is particularly relevant to catchment partnerships, land managers, environmental planners, and river restoration practitioners.

Running the Tool

Tool Inputs

User-selected spatial criteria, weighting values, regional area selection, and prioritisation thresholds

Resource Requirements

Access to a computer

time Requirements

>1 hour

Skill Requirements

Knowledge of GIS

How does it work?

RIVERTOOL uses Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis (SMCA) to combine multiple spatial datasets into a prioritised output layer.
The tool allows users to:

• Select a region of interest.
• Choose positive and negative spatial criteria.
• Assign weights to reflect the importance of each criterion.
• Define prioritisation thresholds to identify top-ranking areas for intervention.

Input datasets are standardised to common scales before aggregation. Positive criteria represent areas where intervention is desirable; negative criteria identify areas to de-prioritise, and hard constraints exclude unsuitable locations entirely. The final prioritisation layer is generated using weighted linear combination methods. Users can dynamically update weighting values to explore how different management priorities alter outputs and intervention rankings.

Using Tool Outputs

Tool Outputs
Priority maps for riparian planting and restoration, weighted ecosystem service opportunity maps, spatial prioritisation rankings, stakeholder-informed intervention scenarios

How can the tool be used to inform decisions?
The tool can support riparian woodland planning, river restoration targeting, catchment management, natural flood management planning, and ecosystem service optimisation. Outputs can help identify areas where interventions may deliver multiple environmental benefits while supporting transparent stakeholder discussion around prioritisation choices and trade-offs.

Limitations of Use
RIVERTOOL outputs of weightings and priorities are user-defined and may introduce subjectivity. Tool results require local validation and professional interpretation. 

Validation
The tool is based on established spatial multi-criteria analysis methodologies and incorporates multiple environmental datasets into a structured prioritisation framework. The tool was tested on catchment-scale environmental planning applications.

Developer Organisations

RIVERTOOL was developed by researchers at The James Hutton Institute with support from RESAS (Scottish government).