Wednesday 13 February 2008

WWF has been at the forefront of policy work on sustainable flood management, an approach which could help Scotland adapt to climate change impacts, mitigate the misery of flooding to many homes and businesses and deliver benefits for the environment and wildlife.

Mike Donaghy, WWF Scotland's Freshwater Policy Officer said:

"We welcome the launch of a consultation on a much-needed flooding bill. The Scottish Government has clearly taken on board the advice of WWF and others that we must adopt a more modern and flexible approach to flood risk management.

"Scotland is in a strong position to implement a sustainable flood management approach which will help protect its people and property and businesses. We are glad to see the Government moving away from a reliance on expensive hard engineering methods. We need to take a whole-catchment approach, using a flexible range of techniques, including natural flood management, which works to restore the river's natural processes. For this to happen we need to make sure the structures and processes are fully aligned by Government, including using local knowledge to find the best local solutions."

Further Information
Sustainable Flood Management is about managing flood risk at a whole river scale. It embodies a shift from our predominantly piece-meal and reactive approach towards a catchment-based approach that takes account of long-term social and economic factors. A typical SFM approach would include natural flood management, flood mapping, flood-sensitive planning, flood resilience, flood warning schemes, SUDS, and a level of engineering - all forming part of a flood catchment management plan. Natural flood management is an integral part of this process. It is achieved by slowing the flow of water to rivers from the surrounding land using natural water and land processes. Techniques include restoring upland wetlands, reforesting gullies, replanting native riparian woodlands, restoring lowland wetlands and reconnecting floodplains.