Celebrating the Natural Power of Rivers to Improve Resilience
The 28th September marked World Rivers Day – a global celebration of the critical role rivers play in supporting both people and wildlife. This year, we are highlighting the importance of natural, free-flowing rivers and healthy catchments – essential lifelines for ecosystems, wildlife, and human communities.
Why do Healthy Rivers Matter?
Across England, many rivers have been artificially straightened and modified in an effort to protect towns and farmland from flooding. However, building on natural floodplains and altering river courses has often had the opposite effect – damaging wildlife habitats, degrading water quality, and increasing the vulnerability of more areas to flooding. As the climate continues to change, these heavily modified rivers are proving less resilient, placing growing pressures on both communities and natural ecosystems.
When rivers are allowed to flow naturally – with their bends (meanders) restored and floodplains reconnected – they become powerful natural tools for managing water in a more sustainable way. Healthy, free-flowing rivers can slow the movement of water through catchments, improving flood resilience, while also creating habitats and natural corridors for wildlife. In a changing climate, these restored rivers will be essential to helping both people and nature adapt to the challenges ahead.
River Restoration in Action: DRIP Case Studies
The Devon Resilience Innovation Project (DRIP) is putting nature-based solutions into action to improve flood resilience in communities, while also enhancing biodiversity and environmental health across Devon. We would like to showcase two restoration projects, led by DRIP partners, with aims to strengthen both community and environmental resilience by restoring rivers and their catchments.
Connecting the Culm Project
Blackdown Hills National Landscape is delivering a long-term project to enhance the River Culm and its catchment. The vision is to reconnect the river with its floodplain, improve soil and water quality, and boost biodiversity using nature-based solutions. By drawing on local knowledge and community insight, the project is helping to create a more resilient future for the river, its wildlife, and the people who depend on it.
You can find more information about this important work on the Connecting the Culm project website.
Tattiscombe Stage Zero River Restoration Project
North Devon National Trust have completed a ‘stage zero’ river restoration project at Tattiscombe – a method that returns the river to its natural state and enables water to follow its natural path. This transformation included:
- Placing logs in the river to encourage natural meandering, slow the flow of water, and create habitats for wildlife.
- Widening the watercourse in some areas to hold more water back from downstream communities.
- Digging scrapes and ponds into the floodplain to store excess water and support the development of wetland habitats.
- Planting wildflowers to boost biodiversity and provide food and shelter for pollinators and other wildlife.
How Can We Help Our Rivers?
Rivers need our care just as much as we need them. Here are some practical ways we can help restore our rivers and improve the resilience of our communities and natural environment:
- Organise river cleans and take other steps to reduce the amount of pollution entering watercourses.
- Restore natural meanders to help rivers flow more slowly.
- Reconnect rivers with their floodplains to create wetland habitats that act as natural water sponges.
- Plant trees and wildflowers along riverbanks to stabilise soil, support pollinators, and filter pollutants and trap sediment to improve water quality.
Healthy rivers mean healthier, more resilient communities and ecosystems. This World Rivers Day, and every day, let’s celebrate the natural power rivers have to sustain both human and natural life – even on a planet facing climate change.