MAINTENANCE – ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Making willow fencing Planted trees anchor riverbank Fencing a water course
of children from 15 schools across
Cumbria, Nottingham and Sunderland.
Students from Sunderland were
involved through Derwent Hill outdoor
education centre in Cumbria. Its director
Matthew Ellis explains: “In the last three
years, we are very proud to have planted
over 2,000 trees and engaged in real
projects, such as shoring up river banks
after devastating oods.”
Also involved in the project was Oak
Field School, a school for children aged
between three and 19 years with severe
learning di culties. A spokesperson
for Oak Field School explains: “The
students have planted trees and cleared
Himalayan Balsam (described by the
Royal Horticultural Society as a major
weed problem, especially on riverbanks
(www.is.gd/luvuta)).
“It has been an amazing and
successful project to be involved in
over the years, giving the young people
the con dence and the experience of
working together to put something back
into the environment. The students
learned a lot about the need to care
for the countryside and the impact
stabilisation and slowing the ow of the
river, as well as creating shade to boost
sh populations.
The programme has also introduced
more than 2km of willow fencing to
protect banks from erosion, as well as
44km of fencing along water courses.
This helps to create riparian strips (an
area where land meets water) and wildlife
corridors. Furthermore, it also allows
natural rejuvenation of the river banks,
contributes to natural ood management
due to re-pro ling of the river banks and
also decreases the amount of sediment
that goes into the river.
Along with this, the project has also
introduced 58 sections of woody material
debris and management of gravel beds
to provide shelter for young sh and
create channel diversity, encouraging sh
species to naturally breed and ultimately
leading to greater sh stocks in the rivers.
TEAM EFFORT
Among the many organisations to have
worked alongside the Environment
Agency on the project are the River Ellen
Angling Association, as well as hundreds
iFnufrotrhmeartion:
Protecting nature (February
2020): www.is.gd/wetigi
Fighting oods (February 2020):
www.is.gd/cudijo
Interview - Ahmed Yusuf,
Environment Agency (September
2019): www.is.gd/ujixen
that conservation has on the local
environment.”
It is clear that this long-term project
has been rewarding for all parties
involved, and shows what can be
achieved when people from di erent
backgrounds work side by side.
As Farrell concludes: “It really is
amazing what can be done when we all
come together. Looking back and seeing
work we implemented 10 years ago
thriving and working to its best potential
is certainly rewarding, and makes all the
hard work from everyone involved totally
worth it.”
New Environment Agency ooding focus includes soft engineering
A new plan to better protect and prepare millions of homes
and businesses from the risk of ooding that the climate
emergency will bring in the future was launched in July by the
Environment Agency (EA). Soft engineering plays a major role.
With more extreme weather expected, including summer
temperatures up to 7.4˚C hotter and 59% more rainfall by
2050, the new Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management
Strategy (www.is.gd/ipijuv) sets out how the agency will build
up the resilience of millions more homes and businesses as
part of the EA’s green recovery plan into the next decade.
The measures include increased investment in natural
ood management schemes to better protect communities,
tackle climate change and create new wildlife habitats.
Environment Agency chair Emma Howard Boyd said: “The
clean, green recovery of the economy from Coronavirus
must have nature at its heart. This is a blueprint for using the
natural world to build back better so that homes, businesses
and infrastructure are more resilient.”
The strategy came on the same day as the government
announced details of the £5.2 billion that will be spent on
ood protection between 2021 and 2027, creating around
2,000 new ood and coastal defences to better protect
336,000 properties in England by 2027. Those plans
also include £200 million for innovative projects such as
sustainable drainage systems and nature-based solutions
like temporary or permanent water storage areas which also
boost wildlife.
The strategy sets out a series of natural ood
management schemes that will not only reduce
the risks to local communities, but also tackle
climate change through carbon sequestration
and new habitats for wildlife. These include
reconnecting rivers with their natural
oodplain and restoring bends, recognising
the role of soils in reducing rapid run-o , or
creating new areas to store water.
Autumn 2020 www.operationsengineer.org.uk 79
/luvuta))
/wetigi
/cudijo
/ujixen
/ipijuv)
/www.operationsengineer.org.uk