Natural Flood Management (NFM) is about protecting, restoring and emulating the natural regulating function of catchments to reduce flood risk. NFM has potential to provide environmentally sensitive approaches, to minimising flood risk, in areas where hard flood defences are not feasible, and to increase the lifespan of existing flood defences (NERC, 2016). There has been a recent policy shift in DEFRA policy to support this approach (CaBA, 2017); see GOV.UK briefings.

A practical guide to NFM has been produced by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency; Natural Flood Management Handbook (2015). And a useful Manual for the Natural Management of River Floods has been written by the  World Wildlife Fund.

NFM Research in the Cober

• 2017 – Investigating the impact of afforestation on the magnitude of peak flow levels in the River Cober, Helston