The multiple benefits of catchment restoration

Prof Alastair Driver FCIEEM

Catchment restoration specialist and ecologist

Specialist Advisor, Rewilding Britain

@AliDriverUK

Peat bog restoration

Bare and restored peat on Kinder Scout

Evidence from Moors for the Future: The weight of Particulate Organic Carbon trapped in water flowing down gullies of re-vegetated catchments on Kinder Scout was reduced by over 90% in comparison to those in untreated catchments.

Upland grassland restoration

Evidence from Berwyn and Clwyd mountains: drain blocking in blanket bog led to flows

during drought periods being more stable and up to 3x higher than prior to blocking

Exmoor Mires

restoration

Pond creation

Belford Burn, Northumberland

Evidence from Belford Burn: installation of “leaky ponds” led to the following average

reductions in pollutant concentrations downstream during storms: suspended solids 40%,

total phosphorus 25% and nitrate 15%

Tree planting

Woodland planting on the Belford Burn

Woodland shelterbelt at Pont Bren

Evidence from Pont Bren: infiltration rates are up to 60x higher under young native

woodland shelterbelts compared to adjacent heavily grazed pasture

Woody debris

Hebden Bridge volunteers learning from Stroud

Leaving woody debris in situ at Holnicote

Evidence from Belford Burn, Northumberland: Installation of 6 large woody debris structures in a

headstream near Belford, more than doubled the travel time for the peak of the flood 1 km downstream

High flow woody debris dam,

Slad Valley, Glos

Beaver reintroduction

Dec 2014 hydrograph above and below beavers

Puttock et al 2017

Beaver pond at Boldventure

Evidence from Puttock et al, 2017: peak flows at the Boldventure beaver enclosure are reduced by 30 % below the beaver site, lag times (peak rainfall to peak flow) are much longer below the site (29 %) and water now takes on average of 1 hour to travel through site.

Beaver reintroduction on the R. Otter in Devon

Beaver canal at Boldventure

Beaver reintroduction

Water quality changes

Evidence from Puttock et al, 2017: At Boldventure in Devon, on average, compared to water entering from intensively managed grassland, each litre of water leaving the beaver-impacted site contained 3x less sediment, 0.7x less nitrogen, 5x less phosphate and 2x more dissolved organic carbon

13 beaver ponds held >100 tons of sediment of which 70% came from

the 20 ha intensively grazed catchment upstream

Rural river restoration

Evidence from the Tweed: The Salmon fishery in the Tweed catchment contributes over

£18M to the local economy and supports over 500 jobs

Whit Beck restoration in Cumbria

Moses Weir

removal,

R. Irwell

Urban river restoration

Restoration of the

R. Medlock at

Clayton Vale LNR,

Manchester

Evidence from R. Ravensbourne: Visitors to Ladywell Fields urban greenspace in South

London increased by >250% after restoration of the River Ravensbourne through the park

SuDS installation

Hollickwood Primary Susie Earnshaw Theatre School

Queen Elizabeth Girls’ School, Pymmes Brook catchment, North London

Evidence from Environment Agency Introduction to SUDS: On average, urbanisation

without SUDS trebles the rate of run-off during storm events

Putting it all together

Re-wetting upstream bog Leaving woody debris in situ

Evidence from Holnicote estate – Somerset: £160K NFM work reduced flood peak by 10%

and prevented £30M of assets (90 properties) from flooding during a 1 in 25+ year flood

event on Xmas Eve 2013.

Downstream

woody debris

combined with

floodplain

attenuation

Lowland rewilding

Knepp Estate, Sussex

Rewilding at Knepp

Rewilding at Knepp Estate, West Sussex 2001-2016

Upland rewilding

Sheep or no sheep ?

Upland tree planting

1999 Carrifran – Scottish Borders 2015

Soils – “the elephant in the room”

Evidence from Palmer and Smith field investigations of soils in SW England, 2013: 38% of soils show signs of enhanced surface water run-off due to soil degradation, with 75% of land under late-harvest crops showing signs of degradation.

Soils – “the elephant in the room”

Evidence from Defra Soil Strategy for England 2009: 2.2 million tonnes of silt is lost from the land each year in the UK.

Evidence from Cranfield Univ research report on soil degradation for Defra 2011: The total cost to society of soil degradation in England and Wales is £1.2 billion per annum,

Soils - “the elephant in the room”

December 2013

25 YEP – Reasons to be cheerful !• Public money for public goods to replace Basic Payment Scheme

• Nature Recovery Network to restore/create 500,000 ha of habitat

• Review of National Parks

• Expanding the use of natural flood management solutions

How do we leave a legacy to be proud of ?• Designated Wild Areas in most National Parks

• A significant increase in the proportion of flood risk management grant-in aid targeted at natural flood management

• Water companies implementing the catchment-based approach more extensively and more consistently across the country

• Large-scale rewilding initiatives prioritised for new public money for public goods subsidy payments

Thankyou for your attention

“Today’s problems cannot be solved if we continue to think the way we did

when we created them” – Albert Einstein