Aerial images of the National Trust’s Holnicote estate in Somerset show that the areas where rivers were returned to their natural courses and wetlands were restored stayed green and lush through five summer heatwaves, while the surrounding farmland turned parched and brown.
Project staff describe the restored floodplain as a “natural sponge” that stores water during drought and slows it during storms, protecting villages downstream from flooding. They offer it as evidence that nature-based solutions build resilience to wildfire and flooding rather than causing it.
Posted: August 29, 2026