The National Trust and insurance firm Admiral have teamed up to boost flood prevention through nature-based solutions.
The organisations said they will work together on large-scale landscape restoration as a way to help tackle the growing threat of flooding.
The partnership, announced on Wednesday, will involve a £600,000 investment from Admiral’s green fund initiative into nature-based solution projects in three upland areas – Snowdonia in Wales, the Holnicote Estate in Somerset and in the Lake District in Cumbria.
The National Trust teams will carry out a series of interventions in these areas to help the land absorb more water and slow water flow.
They also hope to boost declining wildlife, including curlews, dragonflies and the return of plant species such as the water-loving sphagnum moss that helps form new carbon-absorbing peat.
The Snowdonia project is currently under way, with the National Trust team working to restore the Migneint blanket bog – one of the country’s most precious and biodiverse upland habitats.
The £180,000 project aims to restore around 12 hectares of the most severely eroded peatland at Waen Fraith over the next three years – equivalent to the size of three Principality stadiums.
Iago Thomas, peatland officer at National Trust Cymru, said: “By rewetting the bog, we will literally see the trickle-down impact of it all, with the land absorbing more water like a sponge, slowing water flow, reducing carbon emissions, and creating thriving habitats.
“The restored habitat will benefit species like curlew, a wading bird in steep decline, which requires softer ground for their young to make it easier for them to feed, as well as invertebrates like dragonflies, which need areas of open water.
“Restoring peat really is a nature-based solution with real-world impact.”
Work on the other two sites will get under way soon, the National Trust said.
In the Lake District, the teams will start a project to create new ponds, restore rivers, and plant vegetation alongside river corridors.
The aim is to restore natural river dynamics to enhance floodplain connectivity and increase water storage capacity during heavy rainfall events, the conservation charity said.
Teams will also implement a monitoring system in Borrowdale, providing residents with real-time data to prepare for potential flooding.
And in Somerset, teams will start work to create new wetlands early next year.
They will also roll out small-scale, low-tech interventions, such as leaky dams and swales, across the landscape to manage water flow and reduce flood risks.
Ben McCarthy, head of nature conservation at the National Trust, said: “This partnership with Admiral is a landmark moment.
“It allows us to scale up our efforts and deliver real-world impact; to support biodiversity, build in resilience against extreme weather as well as helping to protect people.
“The Welsh project will see this area of the Migneint return to being a healthy and functional blanket bog – a wetland rich in wildlife.
“Here, working alongside the community, tenant farmers and others, we are demonstrating how this investment in nature will directly circle back to supporting the communities for generations to come.”
Michelle Leavesley, chief sustainability officer at Admiral Group, said: “We’re investing in natural flood management solutions to strengthen flood resilience for people and nature.
“For us at Admiral, protecting people’s homes means taking action beyond insurance by building understanding and resilience to the impact of changing climate and extreme weather events.”
