Solution: Create a commercial business model that repays upfront private investment using forecast flood-risk cost savings from natural flood management (NFM), enabling payments to farmers and landowners to host and maintain measures like tree planting and water storage.
Key challenge: Flood risk has been increased by land-management and river-modification practices that reduce water storage and speed runoff, while funding is needed to implement catchment-scale NFM to protect thousands of at-risk properties.
Context: Approximately 7,600 properties across the Wyre catchment are at risk from river flooding. Intensive farming (overgrazing and heavy machinery) has compacted soils and reduced their ability to store water; removal of trees, ponds and wetlands has reduced landscape water storage; and straightened/modified watercourses have accelerated flows and disconnected rivers from floodplains. Climate change is contributing to more frequent and intense rainfall, increasing flood likelihood and impacts, including damage to homes and businesses and longer-term wellbeing effects.
Solution in practice: Modelling under the Wyre Investment Readiness project (funded by Triodos Bank) indicates that developing around 70 hectares of NFM features could reduce flooding frequency affecting up to 120 properties in Churchtown. The Wyre NFM project has developed a commercial business model intended to attract private funding alongside public funding, where the cost savings from NFM implementation generate a long-term revenue stream to repay upfront investment in reduced flood risk. Farmers and landowners are paid to host and maintain interventions such as tree planting, water storage areas, and hedgerow planting. A Wyre Catchment Community Interest Company has been set up to raise £850k from private investors (including high net worth individuals and companies such as United Utilities), alongside a £526k grant from the Woodland Trust (Northern Forests Grow Back Greener Program, part of Defra’s Nature For Climate Fund). The project is a national pilot delivered by the Wyre Rivers Trust over four years, with monitoring through to 2030, led by Wyre Rivers Trust, The Rivers Trust national, and Triodos Bank UK with partners including Wyre Council, Markerstudy, United Utilities, Flood Re, Co-op Insurance, Northwest Regional Flood and Coastal committee and Hogan Lovells.
Impact / outcome: About 70 ha of natural flood management could reduce flooding frequency for up to 120 properties in Churchtown (modelled).
Next steps: Use the pilot delivery and monitoring through 2030 to evidence flood-risk reduction and associated cost savings, enabling investor repayment and validating the commercial model. Continue raising the planned private investment and coordinating partners (public bodies, insurers, utilities, and land managers) to scale and sustain NFM implementation across the catchment.
Organizations involved:
Authoring: Wyre Rivers Trust
Actors: The Rivers Trust; Triodos Bank UK; Woodland Trust; United Utilities; Wyre Council; Flood Re; Co-op Insurance; Markerstudy; North West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee
Implementation partners: Civil Society Organizations; Investors & Banks; Local Governments; Infrastructure Owners & Operators; Insurers; Regulators & Policymakers