Standing in our West Sedgemoor reserve in Somerset yesterday, it was difficult to imagine that just a few weeks ago this whole landscape had been turned into a lake five feet deep.  The fields are now full of marsh marigold and cuckoo flower with lapwings displaying and hobbies hunting.  Spring is demonstrably in full swing.   Apart from some debris in hawthorn bushes, there is little sign of the deluge that afflicted the county earlier in 2014.

I was on a site visit with colleagues to talk about the experiences of the 2014 floods on the Levels and to reflect on what it might mean for the future for the people and wildlife of this fabulous region.  We went to the site of the infamous dredge where the rivers Parrett and Tone connect and while it will, no doubt, help move water through the system quicker it is clear that, on its own, the dredge willl be inadequate in dealing with future floods.   

We climbed Burrow Mump at Burrow Bridge which along with Moorland was the location of so many TV interviews during the floods. From the top of the Mump you could get 360 degree views of the floods powerfully illustrating the sheer power of nature and the impact that these floods had on those living and working in the region.

Our tour also stopped at our reserves at Greylake and at Ham Wall - both fabulous sites which thanks to RSPB management have helped the phenomenal recovery of the bittern.  I was particularly struck by Ham Wall.  With nightingales singing and bitterns booming, I was reminded of how we transformed it from a former peat extraction site in 1994 into it a fabulous wetland which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.  In the shadow of Glastonbury Tor and just 45 minutes from Bristol, Ham Wall is well worth a visit.  

At our sites, we are doing what we can to recover threatened species but are also trying to create the right conditions to accommodate species - such as great white egret - moving north because of the changing climate.  We are also piloting new ways of generating income to support the conservation management at these sites - for example by using the reed and rush cuttings to create compost or to use as biomass fuel (see here).

The visit reinforced my view that the 2030 vision (here) for the future of the Somerset Levels and Moors, crafted during the height of the floods, is attainable.  It should be possible to create an extensively farmed landscape with wildlife at its heart creating an internationally recognised destination for wildlife tourism.  

But, the visit also reminded me how quickly events can slip from public consciousness.  While those in the region will never forget the floods of 2014, those people outside of the Levels have moved on - the event remembered, if at all, for images of big pumps, sandbags and politicians being hounded by the press.  Support for farmers affected has been forthcoming, the dredge has apparently started and a new rivers Board being established.  But, it appears that the Government has no plans for any review of the 2014 floods and no plans to radically rethink the role of land management in preventing future floods or creating more resilient land use in the future (see here).  I think this is a mistake.  We can expect more extreme weather events and it is clear that the Levels will flood again.

I think politicians should be curious about what they could learn from 2014, what the implications are for future predicted extreme weather events and what they should be doing today to help farmers adapt to changing environmental conditions.  Everyone knows that the level of public support offered to those famers affected by the floods in Somerset is not realistic across the rest of the farmed landscape of England, so what is the strategy for those areas at risk of flooding?

A review would help to focus attention on these and no doubt other issues.  It could also help contribute to a National Resilience Plan, which in this climatically chaotic world should be an essential part of 21st century government thinking.

  • Martin, picking just one thing out of the huge range of issues in this blog, it is exciting to see RSPB working towards using reeds for energy. As you'll be all too well aware, a huge amount of conservation management is about checking natural succession - especially reedbeds and heathland succeeding to woodland, as well as coppice and scrub succeeding to high forest. The rapidly developing biomass market, led by DECC's Renewable Heat incentive payments, mean that all that material presently a huge problem to dispose of could be turned into energy and money - meaning more resources to spend on the birds, and also reducing carbon as we conserve species. A real example of how clever thinking can get more out of our scarce land resource - in sharp contrast to the clunky, heavy engineering response to the floods - or to single, purpose, intensive farming for that matter.