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There was huge interest with a wide variety of applications from across England. We independently reviewed these with input from Defra and Natural England technical experts.
We selected 40 projects to proceed to the next stage of the NFM programme. These are:
Brampton 2 Zero CiC: Brampton NFM project
Cheshire Wildlife Trust: Meols NFM scheme
City of Doncaster Council: Bentley NFM opportunities
City of Trees Trust: Crompton Moor Slow the Flow Leaky Dams
Community Forest Trust: Whitewell Brook NFM
Dorset AONB Partnership (hosted by Dorset Council): West Dorset
Rivers & Coastal Streams NFM programme
East Mercia Rivers Trust: Field Beck NFM – Holdingham, Sleaford
Wyre River Trust: Wyre Catchment resilience programme
A variety of communities and habitats will benefit from these projects across England. They cover urban to rural, upland to lowland and inland to coastal locations.
These projects will carry out a mixture of NFM measures at a range of scales and will seek to manage flood risk from a variety of sources including from rivers, surface water and the sea.
The measures include:
new NFM features, such as leaky barriers, wet woodlands, ponds and wetlands – these will help to slow and store high flows in upper catchments, reducing the chance and impact of flooding downstream
soil and land management – which will slow and store surface water runoff, while also reducing soil erosion and improving water quality
new woodland areas and hedgerows – which will support wetland complexes and the creation of new habitats
expansion and enhancement of saltmarsh and sand dune systems - these natural barriers will break wave action and reduce the risk of tidal flooding to local communities
Work will take place on these projects between now and 31 March 2027. This will involve a range of organisations including:
wildlife trusts
rivers trusts
local authorities working with local communities
farmers
landowners
Increasing flood resilience with Natural Flood Management (NFM)
In September 2023 the Environment Agency and Defra announced £25 million funding for improving flood resilience through a new NFM programme.
We (the Environment Agency) are managing this programme.
The programme aims
The programme aims to:
reduce local flood risk using NFM
provide wider benefits to the environment, nature and society
accelerate new and existing opportunities for NFM delivery and financing
further improve evidence of NFM by filling knowledge gaps
40 projects to receive funding
We invited applications from a wide range of groups, including:
There was huge interest with a wide variety of applications from across England. We independently reviewed these with input from Defra and Natural England technical experts.
We selected 40 projects to proceed to the next stage of the NFM programme. These are:
Brampton 2 Zero CiC: Brampton NFM project
Cheshire Wildlife Trust: Meols NFM scheme
City of Doncaster Council: Bentley NFM opportunities
City of Trees Trust: Crompton Moor Slow the Flow Leaky Dams
Community Forest Trust: Whitewell Brook NFM
Dorset AONB Partnership (hosted by Dorset Council): West Dorset
Rivers & Coastal Streams NFM programme
East Mercia Rivers Trust: Field Beck NFM – Holdingham, Sleaford
Wyre River Trust: Wyre Catchment resilience programme
A variety of communities and habitats will benefit from these projects across England. They cover urban to rural, upland to lowland and inland to coastal locations.
These projects will carry out a mixture of NFM measures at a range of scales and will seek to manage flood risk from a variety of sources including from rivers, surface water and the sea.
The measures include:
new NFM features, such as leaky barriers, wet woodlands, ponds and wetlands – these will help to slow and store high flows in upper catchments, reducing the chance and impact of flooding downstream
soil and land management – which will slow and store surface water runoff, while also reducing soil erosion and improving water quality
new woodland areas and hedgerows – which will support wetland complexes and the creation of new habitats
expansion and enhancement of saltmarsh and sand dune systems - these natural barriers will break wave action and reduce the risk of tidal flooding to local communities
Work will take place on these projects between now and 31 March 2027. This will involve a range of organisations including:
