Natural Flood Management (NFM): A Nature-Based Path to Resilience

Natural Flood Management (NFM) refers to techniques that work with natural processes, rather than relying solely on concrete walls or embankments, to slow, store, and manage floodwaters within a river catchment.

 

Techniques include restoring floodplains, planting riparian woodlands, creating wetlands, building leaky dams or bunds, managing soils, and reconnecting rivers to their catchments.

 

NFM not only reduces flood risk, but also enhances biodiversity, water quality, carbon storage, and community wellbeing and offers co-benefits that engineered solutions alone cannot deliver.  

 

NFM can be deployed alongside and in combination with built flood defences. The examples below focus on river flooding but you will also find a growing appetite for applying NFM to coastal areas to include the restoration of salt marshes in UK and Europe while in the tropics the work concentrates on natural barrier defences against storm surges that are provided by the restoration of mangrove forests.

A Short History of NFM in the UK

1. Foundations and Early Adoption (2014–2018)
 

• In 2016, Defra provided £15 million for NFM pilot schemes across England, initiating dozens of early projects .

 
2. Scaling Up (2019–2023)

• By February 2024, the government committed £25 million for 40 NFM schemes ready to implement—from leaky dams to pond networks through local trusts, councils, and NGOs  .

• In September 2023, the Environment Agency and Defra formalised a national NFM Programme, building on earlier work (the period from 2017 to 2021 saw 60 pilot projects) to mainstream nature-based solutions across England  .

3. Landscape Recovery and Blended Finance (2023–present)

• Most recently The Resilient Glenderamackin project in Cumbria has kick-started a new phase for NFM that looks at a large catchment-scale. This is a multimillion-pound NFM project that is taking shape under Defra’s Landscape Recovery Round 2 Pilot, integrating public and private finance to achieve long‑term resilience it took for its inspiration the work at Wyre Rivers Trust.

• The Wyre River Trust although smaller scale was pioneering in developing business model for River Catchment organisation to manage the restoration and raise funds and provide revenue stream to local farmers who would carry out the on the ground work to create a more flood resistant land scape.

• In parallel, the Wyre River Trust is advancing a new catchment resilience scheme as part of the Defra NFM programme  .

NFM and Built Defences: Working Better Together

NFM complements traditional flood defences by reducing peak flows and storing water upstream—lightening the load on hard infrastructure like embankments and flood walls. While hard defences offer guaranteed resilience in key areas, NFM provides distributed catchment resilience, ecological restoration, and greater system flexibility  .

Benefits of NFM

1. Flood risk reduction – e.g. Glenderamackin modeling shows a 10% reduction in flood peak during a 1-in-30-year event, with protection sustained to 2039  .

2. Ecological restoration – new wetlands, woodlands, hedgerows, improved habitats for wildlife and healthier rivers.

3. Water quality improvement – filtering nutrients, reducing runoff, and enhancing catchment health.

4. Carbon capture – restoring peatlands and planting trees lock in carbon and mitigate climate change.

5. Support for farmers – interventions can be co-designed with farmers, supporting land management, income generation through ecosystem services, and resilience to policy changes  .

A large scale example of a NFM scheme that Supports Farmer is the Glenderamackin Catchment
 
The Resilient Glenderamackin project (14,200 ha in West Cumbria) demonstrates how NFM and farming can align:
 

• Working with 40+ upland farms, it delivered ponds, hedges, leaky dams, wetlands, peat and river restoration  .

• Designed as a Community Interest Company (CIC), the farmer group ensures ownership, transparency, and returns remain in the community  .

• The project is developing a blended finance model, using DEFRA grants and private investment to fund long-term maintenance, helping fill income gaps left by changes to agricultural support  .

England vs Scotland: A Tale of Differences

 

Both countries have projects under way in NFM but the funding mechanism from the different government administrations are somewhat different as outlined below.
 
England:
 

• Supported by centrally funded programmes (Defra and EA), the NFM agenda is delivered via trusts, councils, and partnerships, with emphasis on Landscape Recovery pilots, NFM Programme (£25 m), and hybrid funding . The DEFRA landscape recovery scheme has been designed to encourage a blended approach of public funding and private finance. It is yet to be demonstrated the share of each source of funds in these schemes but it is thought the private sector will be the major contributor and if so new financial models will need to be developed to demonstrate robust ROI from the ecosystem services these schemes provide. This is where Nature Equity comes in as we provide the investment grade evidence and financial analysis to support the scale of private finance in the sector.

 

Scotland:
 

• NFM is supported via the Scottish Rural Development Programme, local authorities, public agencies, and private initiatives (e.g., carbon offset funding) .

• Collaboration is fostered via the Natural Flood Management Network Scotland, a practitioner and researcher forum sharing case studies (e.g., river woodland frameworks, coastal NFM through kelp/sea grass)  .

 
The Case for a Natural Capital & Blended-Finance Approach
 
NFM projects deliver multiple ‘natural capital’ benefits—water regulation, habitat, carbon, landscape aesthetics, and social value. Capturing these benefits monetarily enables new private-sector investment into NFM (e.g. corporate offsetting, resilience funding). The Glenderamackin project illustrates the blended-finance model: combining public grants with private payments to sustain long-term land management .

 

Landscape Recovery projects offer a scalable pathway for unlocking private capital at catchment scale. Embedding natural capital accounting into planning and post‑deployment monitoring is key to unlocking this finance.
 
Conclusion
NFM represents a transformative way to manage flood risk—blending ecology, hydrology, agriculture, and finance into resilient landscapes. Over the past decade, the UK has moved from early pilots to mainstreaming NFM through ambitious national programmes and landscape-scale recovery schemes. Projects like Resilient Glenderamackin illustrate how catchment-wide interventions, farmer-led governance, and blended public-private investment can deliver flood resilience, biodiversity, and sustainable livelihoods.

To sustain and scale NFM, a shift toward natural capital accounting and blended finance is essential—ensuring private sector co-investment and long-term outcomes for people and nature alike.

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