On the 11th of March, over 60 natural flood management (NFM) practitioners took part in our Community of Practice (CoP) which focused on healthy soil and featured a virtual site visit to NFM work in the Upper Rother catchment area.
Dr Debbie Coldwell from the Don Catchment Rivers Trust (DCRT) led the virtual visit to demonstrate all the improvements which have been made to six hectares of arable land south east of Chesterfield, which has the River Rother running through it and had previously been too wet. The landowner also featured in the video sharing his perspective of NFM and experience of working with DCRT to install the interventions on his land.
Healthy soil was the hot topic of the second half of the CoP with speakers including Professor Pippa Chapman from the School of Geography, University of Leeds, Andy Dyer from the Eden Rivers Trust and Iain McDonnell from the Environment Agency. During the event there was lively discussion, many questions and our live tweeting promoted lots of social media interest.
The event was led by Jonathan Moxon from Leeds City Council and Impact Translation Fellow Dr Jenny Armstrong. We are looking for more projects on soil health and NFM so do get in touch if you have one we can support – also for ideas and presenters for the next CoP.
Presentations
Natural Flood Management in the Upper Rother Catchment – Dr Debbie Coldwell, the Don Catchment Rivers Trust
Grassmoor Natural Flood Management Farm Scheme: Virtual Site Visit – Dr Debbie Coldwell, the Don Catchment Rivers Trust
Soil Management for Natural Flood Management – Professor Pippa Chapman, University of Leeds
Natural Flood Management Potential in Grassland – Andy Dyer, the Eden Rivers Trust
#SoilHealth for a Land Manager – Iain McDonnell, the Environment Agency
Event summary notes