The last few months have been a stark reminder in Europe of the power of flooding and the devastation it can cause. But could nature, rather than heavy engineering, solve our flood management problems?
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00:00And in case of a storm surge, Antwerp would be underwater.
00:03Wow, OK. Yeah.
00:06The last few months have been a stark reminder of the power
00:09of flooding and the havoc it can cause.
00:12But could nature provide an answer to our problems?
00:15That's exactly why we've come to the River Skelton in Belgium
00:18to find out about a different approach to coastal defence.
00:23Long on the flooding front line,
00:24Flanders doesn't just have to contend with heavy rainfall.
00:28Storm surge also poses a deadly risk.
00:31How you doing?
00:32Today, Elias has shown me why nature is increasingly seen
00:36as the solution.
00:38When there is a high tide, in combination with a storm on the sea,
00:42and as the storm, as the wind is blowing from the north-west,
00:47then it's actually putting a lot of pressure on the sea.
00:51Then it's actually pushing the water into the estuary,
00:54so we need protection.
00:56What would happen if it wasn't here?
00:58It was just the river without any human interference.
01:01Large parts of the area, actually quite large parts of Flanders,
01:04would come underwater.
01:06Without any protection, the damage would be enormous.
01:11Flood control areas like this one help protect Antwerp
01:14and the wider Skelp Valley from being overwhelmed during a storm surge.
01:18Designed to act as a buffer, they capture excess water
01:21and slowly release it back into the river.
01:24But flood protection isn't the only benefit.
01:27These tidal marshes are very important for nature,
01:30but not only for the habitat and the wildlife itself,
01:34but also their regulation functions.
01:36They are very important for the nutrient balance,
01:39and these marshes also have a function for carbon sequestration and storage.
01:45This nature-based solution is just one example
01:47of how the changing climate is forcing us to rethink flood protection.
01:53From the north of Belgium to Brussels, we're here to check out Green Week,
01:56where all the talk is about water.
02:00The focus this year was on how to make Europe more water resilient.
02:04Let's jump in and join the conversation.
02:07Experts think nature could hold the key.
02:09Nice to meet you.
02:10Yeah, nice to meet you.
02:11We thought that technical solutions would solve everything,
02:14but we now see that it doesn't work,
02:16and actually now the climate is changing.
02:18Nature-based solutions can help us.
02:20For example, keeping water on the roof,
02:22keeping water in your gardens,
02:24and then on the large scale, we have to give space to rivers,
02:27we have to keep the water in the soil.
02:31So working with nature then, not against it.
02:35When the water doesn't get the room it needs, it will take it,
02:39and that would be a disaster.
02:41So we developed a plan with large controlled flood areas,
02:45and we decided to combine this with new nature development.
02:51That's it for this episode.
02:52See you soon for more Water Matters.