Flooding alleviated by targeted tree planting and river restoration - Study

A study by an international team of scientists, led by the Universities of Birmingham and Southampton, has shown that strategic planting of trees on floodplains could reduce the height of flooding in towns downstream by up to 20 per cent, according to research published in the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.

The research was funded by the Environment Agency who is interested in the potential for river restoration techniques to be incorporated into wider flood risk management programmes.

Professor David Sear from the University of Southampton, who supervised the project, said: "With increasing interest in alternatives to conventional hard flood defences, there is an urgent need for evidence that these alternatives can work. This research reminds us that natural processes, when targeted carefully, can reduce downstream flood risk alongside other societal benefits including biodiversity and recreation."