40 projects to benefit from £25 million funding for natural flood management

40 projects to benefit from £25 million funding for natural flood management - Defra and Environment Agency with The Rivers Trust

40 projects across England set to benefit from £25 million funding for using nature to increase the nation’s flood resilience

Forty projects which will use natural processes such as planting trees and creating wetlands to reduce the risk of flooding are set to benefit from a £25 million government programme, Floods Minister Robbie Moore announced today (Friday 23 February).

Part of the government’s plan to increase the nation’s flood resilience, natural flood management processes protect, restore, and mimic the natural functions of catchments, floodplains and the coast to slow and store water.

The announcement comes after a wide range of applications were submitted to the Environment Agency by community groups, environmental charities and councils for grants, following the launch of the largest-ever investment in natural flood management schemes in September last year. The Environment Agency led a review of these applications, with input from Defra and Natural England.

Community, charity and council projects set to benefit from the £25 million Natural Flood Management programme include: Severn Rivers Trust will carry out a mixture of natural flood management measures in the headwaters of Illey Brook, near Halesowen in the West Midlands. Many of these works will focus on soil and land management – slowing and storing surface water runoff, while also reducing soil erosion and supporting agriculture. New woodland areas and hedgerows will support wetland complexes and the creation of new habitats. The Ribble Rivers Trust has proposed a number of projects focusing on slowing river flows across the Ribble catchment.

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of The Rivers Trust (CJS Featured Charity 2024), said: "We warmly welcome this significant fund which will not only protect people and businesses from flooding, but will also make more space for nature, purify pollutants, recharge groundwater aquifers, lock up organic carbon and create amenity value for communities."

The Environment Agency is managing the new £25 million programme with work taking place from now until March 2027.

Click through to see details of all the projects.