Scholar acts as an expert contributor and reviewer for POST
Hydro Nation scholar, Kirsty Holstead, recently acted as an expert contributor and reviewer for Westminster’s Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST) at Westminster.
Kirsty provided and reviewed evidence for a policy note for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee relating to community involvement in natural mitigation of flood risk management. She was one of 18 experts chosen in the UK.
Her research on farmers’ perspectives of natural flood management [paper] as well as organisational barriers to flood management in Scotland [paper] were cited in the final note.
The note finds that:
- Natural flood management (NFM) can help mitigate the impacts of smaller, more frequent floods and can be a low-cost option for helping to manage flood risk for smaller communities.
- However, as it is not yet proven to mitigate the impacts of extreme flooding or flooding in large catchments, NFM should be used in conjunction with built flood infrastructure.
- NFM delivers many environmental co-benefits, such as carbon storage, water quality protection and biodiversity enhancement, allowing environmental objectives to be addressed simultaneously.
- Successfully implementing NFM requires working in complex multi-stakeholder partnerships, with local communities and land managers participating in decisions.
- Barriers to the implementation of NFM include a lack of public awareness, administrative barriers, and insufficient long-term incentives for land managers.
The note and further information can be found here.
