Coastal NFM measures typically are used to increase the natural resilience of the shoreline and improve flood and erosion protection. They do this by improving the volume, altitude and health of natural buffers, thus helping absorb wave and tidal energy. Measures can be applied to coastal or intertidal areas, or sometimes both. Sand dunes, for example, can be restored to improve the stability of the dune and increase its ability to dissipate wave energy and protect landward areas. Dissipation of wave and tidal energy can also be improved by replacing sediment eroded from beaches or restoring intertidal habitats such as saltmarsh and mudflats.
A short report of the Interreg Building with Nature Coordination meeting has been published by Sniffer. The Scottish Government hosted the coordination meeting in Dundee in September and delegates had the opportunity to visit Eddleston, Montrose and St. Andrews NFM projects. A link to the workshop report can be found below.
The Building with Nature (BwN) project (funded by EU Interreg) has produced a short video to explain the project. The Scottish Government, SEPA and Tweed Forum are partners on the project and are focused on the 'catchments' workpackage (the Eddleston catchment is a case study site in the project).
The Environment Agency, CIRIA and other partners are hoping to develop technical guidance on specific Natural Flood Management measures. To begin with they have created a short scoping survey. This is your opportunity to contribute to this survey.
The survey is accessible via the link below and will close towards the end of June.
In 2010 a large scale dune restoration project was completed at West Sands Beach, St Andrews. Due to the location of the site in the SAC, it’s designation within an SSSI and Natura 2000 site; all work had to ensure conservation objectives were met. Preliminary work to determine and map the sediment patterns and grain size distributions within the dunes and intertidal area was crucial to the long term viability and success of the project. A “donor” site was identified that could withstand periodic sediment extraction without suffering long term consequences.
In 2016 a Natural Flood Management Handbook was published by SEPA. This comprehensive document provides an overview to Natural Flood Management. Lead author, Heather Forbes, Senior Policy Officer in SEPA’s Flood Risk Management team, said:
In 2016, SEPA published this handbook to help local authorities and landowners implement NFM