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Woodland

Woodlands can help to attenuate floods through a number of hydrological processes, such as the interception of rainfall, increased use of water (evapotranspiration), and increased infiltration of water into the soil profile.  Woodlands also act to slow surface runoff and reduce sediment transport down hillslopes, by increasing the resistance to flow. Upland areas, which have higher rainfall, steeper slopes, gullies and often quite shallow soils, can deliver significant amounts of floodwater from headwaters to the lower catchment areas. Well sited and managed woodlands protect the soil from disturbance and improve soil structure due to the action of tree roots and high inputs of organic matter. These conditions enhance the soil infiltration pathways and the water storage capacity thereby reducing direct surface run-off, erosion and sediment transport.

Case Studies

News & Events

The Eddleston Water project, Tweed Forum and Scottish Government's long-running empirical study of the effectiveness of Natural Flood Management (NFM) has just been designated by UNESCO as...
A report has been produced by the Environment Agency that evaluates their Natural Flood Management programme. Between 2017 and 2021, £15 million of government funding was invested in 60...
The Forestry Commission, Scottish Forestry, Natural Resources Wales and Northern Ireland Forest Service have published a new UK-wide guide outlining how our forests and woodlands can reduce...

Literature

What can be learnt from working with a community to identify what flood risk management measures are needed, are acceptable and which deliver the greatest multiple benefits?

Images

Videos

Embedded thumbnail for Eddleston Water, Tweed Catchment
Embedded thumbnail for Eddleston Water, Tweed Catchment