Tag Archives: natural flood management

Government’s new tree planting scheme boosts financial services trade in carbon

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Before we all go rarara about the Conservative government’s new scheme to boost tree planting, let’s just note that it’s based on the financialisation of the ecosystem – ie turning the natural environment into another set of markets for the financial services industry to get fat off.

Basically the new Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme is based on a trade in carbon, via Woodland Carbon Units. This is made clear on the Forest Trade website and the UK Woodland Carbon Code “Buy Carbon” webpage.

Plan hatched in 2011 by ConDem government

The Government’s new scheme is the fruition of the ConDem coalition government plan to create a market in so-called ecosystem services. This was laid out in its heavily business-oriented 2011 National Environment White Paper. Continue reading →

New Durham University study finds ANY burning on Walshaw Moor Estate increases flood risk in Hebden Bridge

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A new modelling study and investigation into how annual burning on the Walshaw Moor Estate (WME) may affect high river flows in Hebden Bridge has shown that the most effective way of managing the moors in order to reduce the peak flow at Hebden Bridge is to eliminate burning and encourage conservation and restoration of Sphagnum. Over time, this will allow sphagnum to replace some or much of the cotton and moorland grasses and heather.

Practiced over the whole Hebden Water catchment, this management for sphagnum restoration would reduce the peak flow at Hebden Bridge by between 5%-10%.

Continue reading →

Ban the Burn campaigners’ glorious walk to sadly degraded Walshaw Moor blanket bog

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Hebden Bridge residents and business people gathered in St Georges Square at 9am on 12th and 13th August – the start of the grouse shooting season – to protest against the devastation of Walshaw Moor’s blanket bog and other habitats by industrial – scale grouse rearing. They then walked up to Walshaw Moor for a picnic and fun day that included checking the state of the blanket bog. Continue reading →

Calderdale Catchment Plan Workshop 18th June, Halifax

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Calderdale Catchment Plan Director at the Environment Agency has sent out the Workshop Invitation for 18th June, 9:30 – 13:00, Imperial Crown Hotel, Halifax, HX1 1QE.

I’d like to invite you to participate in an important half day workshop to formally start the process of creating the Calderdale Catchment Plan. We’re keen to bring together the key individuals, groups and organisations who are working on flooding and water management issues, to share the work they are doing, pool resources and collectively design a process that will enable us to produce an effective Catchment Plan. Continue reading →

Looking for natural flood management solutions on Langfield Common

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Houses at the bottom of Langfield Common in Lumbutts were flooded with run off from the Common in the Christmas Day/Boxing Day floods.

With a resident whose house had been flooded, I recently went for a walk on Langfield Common to start looking at the potential for using natural flood alleviation measures, like those used in the Stroud Rural Sustainable Drainage System (SUDS). Continue reading →