Research
Forestry and Natural Flood Management
Research Status:current
The Forest Hydrology programme involves a number of collaborative studies of the effects of forestry on flood flows. These include long-term studies of the hydrological effects of upland conifer forests in research catchments at Coalburn in north England and Balquhidder in mid-Scotland.
The results indicate that while some forestry practices and phases of forest growth affect peak flows within small headwater catchments, the impacts diminish at the larger catchment scale.
Forests the world over, have long been associated with helping to reduce flooding. Most flooding disasters have been partly blamed on the effects of deforestation.
This 2024 report outlines a study undertaken to estimate the potential flood storage provided by beaver dams during flood events, comparing this with existing man-made timber bunds to determine whether the beaver dams offer comparable storage volumes such that the eventual loss/failure of the timber bunds does not pose an increased risk of downstream flooding.
This 2018 report describes modelling and quantifying the hydrological effect of woodland planting opportunities identified in the Camowen and Drumragh catchments in Omagh, Northern Ireland using rainfall-runoff modelling techniques.
This 2017 report describes a project to provide GIS spatial datasets and maps to identify priority areas for woodland creation to benefit flood risk management in Northern Ireland.
The maps accompanying the 2017 report
Sustainable flood management is increasingly looking to the role of catchment land use in alleviating downstream flooding. Woodland presents a number of opportunities that are dependent on its location within the landscape. This 2006 paper by Tom Nisbet and Huw Thomas examines each of these opportunities, and considers whether woodland can make a significant contribution to tackling future flooding as part of a whole-catchment approach to sustainable flood management.
Global review of the role of forestry in flooding
Project Manager, Hydrologist
Science Group Leader
