#391: Meet Twiggy

Four new films look at the work of the Environment Agency to develop natural flood management schemes. 

📢 Announcing our four NEW animated films developed with @envagency to spread the word about natural flood management (NFM) 🎉

Meet Twiggy from the film 'Wood you believe it' below and watch the rest of the films here 👇https://t.co/SRl1IBb4kw

(1/4) pic.twitter.com/bXqQnMekTi

— CumbriaWildlifeTrust (@cumbriawildlife) October 28, 2024

We need to slow the flow.

Storms which cause flooding in homes and businesses have increased in Cumbria in the last decade.

Peatlands hold large amount of water and during periods of high rainfall they can both hold back water and also slow the flow of the water coming off the hills.

Damaged peatlands cannot hold the same amounts of water, and areas that contain drains actually speed up the flow. This means that, during high rainfall events, water isn’t held back and released slowly but flows immediately into rivers, increasing the flooding risk downstream.

Blocking drains slows this run-off and keeps floodwater on the fells for longer.

Check out 'Wood you believe it' and follow the link to see the other films.

#220: Winterwatch

The new series of Winterwatch starts tomorrow and as always there will be plenty of interest for those who are interested in the wildlife to be found in the UK, and a range of explainer videos and props to explain how animals and plants survive.

The trailer tonight mentioned a look at the temperate rainforest ecosystem along Lydford gorge, and also a look at the red squirrel population on Brownsea Island.

There's some useful content on the accompanying website e.g. a quiz to help identify UK birds of prey.

You can also sign up for natural history emails. This may be well worth doing.