Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to conduct further research on the utility of trees in flood prevention.

The Government continues to fund and support research into the utility of trees in flood prevention through the Defra/Environment Agency ‘Working with Natural Processes’ research programme, and the Forestry Commission’s Science and Innovation Strategy.

Forest Research, the Forestry Commission’s Research Agency, is conducting a number of medium and long-term projects on this topic, often in partnership with water regulators, universities and end users. These cover process, modelling, economic and mapping studies designed to quantify and demonstrate how woodland can contribute to flood risk management. Operational synthesis of existing research is currently being used as the basis for designing and targeting forestry’s contribution to help protect ‘communities at risk’ under the Cumbria Floods Action Plan.

One flagship project led by Forest Research is the ‘Slowing the Flow’ at Pickering study. This is evaluating how the integrated application of a range of land use and management measures can alleviate flooding, including woodland creation and the use of large woody structures.

Other studies are underway in the catchments of the River Parrett in Somerset, River Irthing in Northumberland and River Usk in Wales, to provide evidence of how woodland and woodland management can affect flood risk.