How Flanders is harnessing nature to prevent deadly floods

euronews (in English)

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?

Transcript

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.

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