Flooding requires sustainable management to help protect Scotland’s communities.
This may involve a combination of traditional hard engineering options and working with natural processes (also known as nature based solutions or natural flood management).
Natural flood management can help to slow down and store runoff using natural features and processes. This can reduce the size of peak flows and slow the time until peak flow is reached. Forestry and woodlands are considered natural flood management measures.
Forestry has an important contribution to make to natural flood management.
The capacity of woodlands to store water and slow down runoff to downstream communities after heavy rain is worth £100 million a year in Scotland.
It is important however, to understand that forestry and woodlands cannot stop a flood event.
Forest operations can increase flood risk if not appropriately managed, including:
- cultivation
- drainage
- road construction
- harvesting
