Multiple benefits

The primary role of NFM is to attenuate flood peaks within catchments for flood risk management purposes. However, most NFM measures provide added benefits for the wider environment and this topic collates material surrounding these multiple benefits. This could include, for example, information on measures that have improved water quality, biodiversity, carbon targets cultural activity,  farm productivity,  low flows,  air quality and aesthetic quality, health and well-being.

New book launched: "Nature-Based Flood Risk Management on Private Land"

An open access book has recently been published addressing the issue of Nature-Based Flood Risk Management on Private Land. It is published by Springer and was edited by Thomas Hartmann, Lenka Slavíková and Simon McCarthy. The authors highlight that knowledge from many different disiplines will be required to deliver Nature-Based Solutions on private land. Therefore, the book highlights a number of international case studies and gives a different disciplinary perspectives (via a commentry) on each case.  The book can be accessed from the link below.

Natural Flood Management - A Farmer's Guide published by SRUC

A practical handbook for farmers has recently been published by SRUC. The handbook is called "Natural Flood Management: A Farmer's Guide" and is available from the link below. The guide aims to give advice on NFM to landowners and farmers in Scotland. The handbook contains advice on measures such as riparian planting, sediment traps and wetland creation. It also contains case study examples.

Atlas on Engineering with Nature published

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have recently published a book entitled "Engineering With Nature: An Atlas". The Atlas showcases 56 international projects, which includes one Scottish case study (the Bowmont Catchment).  The atlas is organised into eight sections (Beaches and Dunes, Wetlands, Islands, Reefs, Riverine Systems, Levee setbacks and floodplains, use of vegetation and natural materials and environment enhancements of infrastructure).

New video released on the Eddleston Water project

A new video has been released outlining the role of the Eddleston Water project in the international Interreg Building with Nature project. For further details on the Eddleston water project please visit the case study page within the NFM network Scotland site. The project is funded by the Scottish Government and the European Union's Interreg North Sea Region Programme. The video can be viewed at the bottom of this page. 

Report published by European Environment Agency on "Why should we care about floodplains?"

The European Environment Agency have published a short report on "why should we care about floodplains?". It highlights a series of key messages about the role floodplains play in delivering a range of ecosystem services. The report can be accessed via the link below from the European Environment Agency website. 

Stroneslaney Riparian Tree Planting Project

Stroneslaney Farm Riparian Tree Planting Projects main aim was to boost riparian trees along the River Balvaig within the floodplain. Currently, the river lacks riparian tree cover which is suspected to be due to deer populations and livestock limiting natural regeneration in the area. This means that there is a lack of new trees growing to fill the gaps of older trees coming to the end of their life along the river.

This report (published by CREW) provides a review and analysis of information on the passage by fish at wooden obstacles (woody placements), used for flood management, in Scotland. 
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?
Effect of soil structure and field drainage on water quality and flood risks (report by CREW)