£1 million for local flood protection projects
Three projects in Somerset, North Yorkshire and Derbyshire have received a total of £1 million from Defra to demonstrate how our natural resources can help protect against flooding. The funding is part of £28 million which Defra has allocated to fund projects that help communities adapt to changing flood risk in the face of climate change.
The three successful projects are:
Holnicote Estate, near Minehead in Somerset – project managed by the National Trust; Pickering Beck and River Seven, near Pickering, North Yorkshire – project managed by Forest Research; and Upper Derwent Valley, Derbyshire – project managed by the Environment Agency.
Environment Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said:
“As climate change takes hold we are already seeing flood risk around the country changing, so it’s important that we do all we can to protect ourselves and our communities.
“These projects will look at ways of doing just that in communities that don’t have traditional flood defences, by changing the way that land is managed and trying things like creating wetlands and planting trees to hold water away from areas at risk of flooding.”
The three projects will use land management techniques to manage local flood risk, for example by slowing down water flows through steep valleys and retaining water on lowland meadows. These techniques can also have wider environmental benefits including encouraging wildlife species to the area.
Further information
Page published: 18 March 2009