Who would have thought?
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Researchers for the Forestry Commission Wales say flood risk could be reduced using the nation's forests.
The climate change project FUTUREforest, run by Forestry Commission Wales, is experimenting with new ways in which the nation's forests can help reduce downstream flooding, as well as locking away millions of tons of carbon dioxide.
The research is concentrating on soft engineering such as creating small woody debris dams, and new woodland to trap flood water in the uplands and slow its passage downstream.
The low cost, low impact technology could work alongside existing expensive, hard engineering such as barrages and flood barriers to protect people from the increased flood risk posed by climate change.
Forestry Commission Wales' Mike Over said: "We have already begun to discover much about the way the woodlands of Europe can help us to combat climate change.
"The basic idea is that trees, undergrowth and dead wood increase the hydraulic 'roughness' of the floodplain, slowing down the passage of flood flows.
"The net effect is to delay and reduce the size of the flood peak, especially important as we begin to experience wetter winters and more intense rain storms."
The methods are currently being trialled at a site near Abergavenny, where the effectiveness of the technology will be monitored.
FUTUREforest is a three year program funded by the EU and the Welsh Assembly Government and delivered in Wales by Forestry Commission Wales. It aims to identify the threats, weaknesses and strengths of Europe's forests resulting from climate change.
It also aims to improve and adapt regional and local forest management policies and practices focusing on water balance, soil, biodiversity, timber and non-timber forest products and air quality including carbon sequestration.
FUTUREforest will be showcasing its forests project at its international conference in Cardiff November 18, 2010.
I am really beginning to question why taxpayers' monies have to be wasted on research that has an obvious conclusion. Any professional forester for decades and centuries even has been aware of the beneficial aspects of forests to the balancing of the water tables and to prevent floods and landslides. I don't think that it should have a study and the g-ds only know how much money top come a conclusion of already known facts.
But, I guess, the scientists have to justify their existence and high salaries somehow to they study the already known.
Forests, and I mean hear all forests and not just state owned ones, are beneficial to us in so many ways, aside from the obvious, however the mentioned dead wood issue in the forests could also cause more harm than good during flooding.
The dead wood so often left behind also is a serious problem as far as fire ladders are concerned and also as to being nests for diseases in the forests.
During my forestry time as a youngster – and I started in that field at the age of eight – there was no debris left, as far as could be helped, in woods and forests – even the branches had a value as firewood – and still the woods were teeming with all manner of wildlife, including more of the microscopic stuff than today. The trees were healthy – in the main – unlike all the diseases we have today.
Many of the tree diseases today, should one really care to investigate, in my view, are down to bad and lazy forestry practice such as leaving forests debris “for the wildlife” as habitat piles and such like. Our forests cannot afford such piles and practices.
© 2010
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