For centuries, the towns and villages of East Lancashire have faced flooding caused by tidal flows moving upstream from the sea and excessive rainfall rushing downstream.
A series of flood defences has helped reduce this risk over the years, but as communities expand and climate change brings more extreme weather, many of these defences are reaching the end of their design life and now need repairing, replacing, or extending.
To address this challenge, the Environment Agency is delivering the Preston and South Ribble Flood Risk Management Scheme (FRMS), which will provide improved flood protection for around 5,000 homes and businesses.
While Ribble Rivers Trust is not directly responsible for constructing the defences, the Trust is supporting the scheme by delivering Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and ensuring that the project creates wider benefits for nature as well as people.
As part of the scheme, some trees have had to be removed to make way for the new engineered flood defences.
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To offset these losses, Ribble Rivers Trust has transformed Fishwick Bottoms, a much-loved green space on the banks of the River Ribble, into a thriving new riverside woodland.
Located just across the water from Walton-le-Dale and close to Preston city centre, Fishwick Bottoms forms part of the Ribble Free Stretch, a popular location for anglers, as well as the Ribble Way, a 72-mile walking route from the estuary to the river’s source at Ribblehead in North Yorkshire.
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The woodland includes English oak, wych elm, hawthorn, hazel, alder, silver birch, downy birch, goat willow, grey willow, crack willow, elder, holly, and blackthorn, creating a rich and diverse riverside habitat.
The site has also benefited from 1,200 metres of new livestock fencing and access gates to reduce erosion and protect habitats, with six specially designed drinking areas ensuring livestock can still access clean water without damaging the banks.
Invasive non-native plants have been removed, and a new net-zero, rapid-setting concrete has been used for gate installations to reduce environmental impact.
This woodland will deliver lasting ecological benefits. It will provide a thriving habitat for insects, mammals, and bird species, improve water quality by filtering out sediments and pollutants before they reach the Ribble, and support migratory fish such as Atlantic salmon, brown trout, and European eel. Coarse fish such as chub, dace, roach, and barbel will also benefit.
Woodlands also play a vital role in Natural Flood Management (NFM). As the trees grow, their roots will break up compacted soils, allowing rainfall to soak into the ground rather than running straight into rivers.
During storms, the woodland will help slow the flow of water and reduce flooding pressures downstream, complementing the new engineered defences.
Most of the tree planting is now complete, with the final touches being added using coir mulch mats at the base of each tree.
These plastic-free mats reduce competition from weeds, protect young trees during establishment, and avoid the use of plastic guards, which are particularly unsuitable in flood-prone areas where they can be washed away.
Fishwick Bottoms is now set to grow into a flourishing riverside woodland that offsets tree loss from the flood scheme, creates vital new habitats, and helps protect East Lancashire homes from flooding for generations to come.
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