Yesterday, 20 July, the Environment Agency published a position statement for Nature-based Solutions: Nature-based solutions: Environment Agency position statement – GOV.UK

Our vision for the future is for people to work with nature to better manage the land-water environment as a ‘system’. By using a spread of interventions at regional, catchment and site-specific scales, people and the environment can get multiple benefits from NbS, while contributing towards important goals such as flood and climate resilience.   

Used in the right place and at the right time, NbS can contribute towards sustainable growth through outcomes that enhance climate resilience, reduce costs for businesses, and enhance urban areas.

As a reminder, on 12 February 2025, the “Working with Natural Processes: Evidence Directory” was published.  You can find it here: Natural Flood Management evidence – GOV.UK

Evidence of NFM has grown in recent years, building our confidence in the flood risk and wider benefits these approaches can bring. 

Together we want to work with nature more to increase society’s resilience to flooding, coastal erosion and climate change. The updated evidence base shows flood risk reduction and wider benefits vary across measures and helps us understand what works best where. It also tells us there is still more to learn about NFM, but the research gaps are closing and are more detail orientated.