COED CYMRU

 

PIONEERING WELSH FLOOD RISK WORK NOW INFLUENCING TREE PLANTING PLANS

 

Immediate: November 18, 2011

 

Pioneering flood risk management research carried out on a cluster of Mid Wales hill farm is now influencing future tree planting plans in river catchment areas.

 

Scientists have calculated the impact that strategically planted woodland and hedgerows in the uplands have on regulating water flow into rivers to reduce flood risk further downstream.

 

A key partner in the work is Coed Cymru, the all Wales initiative to promote the management of broadleaf woodlands and the use of locally grown Welsh timber.

 

Coed Cymru’s annual stakeholders meeting in Builth Wells heard speakers refer to research on 10 farms in the Pontbren Farming Group, near Llanfair Caereinion, which could have important implications for the UK and other countries around the world.

 

The research brought together scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, five higher education institutions and the Environment Agency.

 

Bob Vaughan, the Environment Agency’s strategic environmental policy manager in Wales, said the strategic planting of shelter belts in catchments upstream from flood risk locations was now supported as a “soft defence” to flooding. Trees help slow the peak run off rate at which water enters rivers by as much as 40 per cent.

 

Climate change projections for the year 2050 showed an increase of up to 15 per cent in river flows in Wales during the winter and up to an 80 per cent decrease in base water flows during periods of summer drought. He warned climate change would also impact on water quality.

 

Benefits of planting more trees in strategic river catchment areas would be better carbon storage, increased water base flows in rivers and better water quality.

 

He also said that trees could have an important role in solving diffuse pollution and revealed that increasing vegetation, particularly trees, within towns and cities could help to reduce temperatures there by four degrees during heatwaves.

 

“The right trees planted in the right place can do an awful lot for us,” he added.

 

Mr Vaughan hoped that at some time in the future insurance companies would invest in land management to reduce the risk of major floods, which cost them a lot of money.

 

Dr Phillippa Pearson, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s (DCWW’s) catchment water quality risk manager, also supported tree planting in river catchment areas as a potentially cost-effective solution to flooding and water treatment challenges presented by poor raw water quality.

 

She said DCWW would be spending in excess of £250 million over the five year period 2010-‘15 updating an improving water treatment works across Wales. “Since 2005, we have been moving towards addressing raw water quality problems at source and encouraging more positive land use management within catchments for water quality and quantity benefits,” she added.

 

“We are not talking about large amounts of woodland, just sections of it that could deliver all the benefits that we want to see.”

 

She said DCWW may, in the future, be able to provide support for tree planting schemes, which could include water quality benefits in drinking water catchments. “We are looking to ensure our water resources remain sustainable and reduce our chemical and energy consumption,” she added. “We believe investment in catchment management – addressing potential raw water quality problems at source, rather than relying on end of pipe solutions – could help is achieve this.”

 

She also encouraged better communication between all the different bodies involved in major tree felling operations to avoid an unexpected impact on water quality in the surrounding area.

 

Some delegates raised concerns that some river catchment areas had been mapped as unsuitable for tree planting. But speakers said there needed to be a strategic approach by the all the agencies involved to resolve planting issues.

 

Coed Cymru director David Jenkins said there was huge potential for planting thousands of acres of woodland in water supply catchment areas of Wales.

 

For more information about Coed Cymru visit www.coedcymru.org.uk/tyunnos.

 

Ends

 

 

Notes for Editors:

 

Established back in 1985 as a public sector partnership, Coed Cymru has instigated more than 6,000 woodland projects in Wales, half of which are farm woodlands. The company, which works with around 100 Welsh manufacturers, began product development work on utilising Welsh hardwoods in 1990 and has successfully developed outdoor furniture, laminated flooring, windows, doors, cladding and wood chips for fuel.

 

For more information please contact David Jenkins at Coed Cymru, 01686 650777 or Duncan Foulkes, public relations consultant, on 01686 650818.