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Government and green watchdog provide £25m to support nature-based flood protection

by Trevor Loveday

The government and the Environment Agency have provided £25m in “ring-fenced” funding to support “projects that use nature to increase the nation’s flood resilience.” Projects will be delivered during 2024-27

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow last week announced the funding to support natural flood management schemes across England for projects to be delivered during 2024-27. The projects will deploy tree planting and creating wetlands to slow and store water. They are also proven to improve air and water quality, provide habitats for wildlife and create green spaces for communities the government said.


The funding “builds on the £15m natural flood management pilot programme which ran until 2021.” The £25m will also be used to “help harness the power of nature and support the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy, which provides “a longer-term vision of how we will create climate-resilient places and better protect and prepare homes and businesses from flooding and coastal change.”


Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell said: “In the face of a changing climate, and with the frequency and severity of flooding only likely to get worse, we need to act now.


“The pioneers who already work with nature-based solutions to achieve greater flood resilience give me hope. I am delighted this new Natural Flood Management Programme will be open to environmental groups, catchment partnerships, farmers, landowners, and local authorities to speed up more investment in natural flood management.”


The £25m funding is available to environmental non-governmental organisations, businesses, farmers, catchment partnerships, flood risk management authorities and community groups. The prospectus is available HERE.


Successful projects “will cover a large enough area to provide demonstrable flood risk benefits.” The Environment Agency will manage the programme. Expressions of interest opened 22 September 2023 and will close on 10 November 2023.


Guidance on submitting expressions of interest is available HERE

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