Sir,
Ben Webster reports that planting more trees will reduce flooding (Jan 25).
Tree planting is indeed part of the answer. As Stuart Goodall and Austin Brady write (Letters to the Editor, Jan 27), the government are doing the right thing by initiating projects now, as what is often unreported are the decades of growth required before these forests become effective.
However, this feels like another knee jerk reaction to the recent flooding events. First we build dams and install pumps; when that doesn’t work we are told dredging is a quick fix; and when that fails tree planting becomes the answer.
In fact we need all these methods, combined with other catchment features such as in-field flood ponds to provide the solution. Work at our research farm (the Allerton Project) has shown that reducing compaction and increasing earthworm numbers increases the adsorption and retention of rainfall. These steps reduce the damaging runoff which leads to flooding downstream. Only when we take a stepwise approach to flooding will the solution become manageable.
Dr Alastair Leake FRAgS CEnv
Director of Policy and Allerton Project
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
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