Nature-based solutions are the first option to address wider environmental issues, such as flooding, climate change and pollution.
Nature gives us what we need to survive. The priority is to use nature as the solution when responding to a range of environmental, economic or societal issues, so that we invest in nature rather than built infrastructure which in turn will help ensure a more abundant, diverse and connected natural environment. 

Nature-based solutions are actions which sustainably use nature to provide environmental or societal benefits and ecosystem services, while also helping enhance or restore the natural assets and ecosystems.  

Working with nature and natural processes and not against it, must become a key part of delivering on issues that widely affect communities in Dorset such as flooding, water quality, carbon storage and extreme temperatures. 

Nature recovery in action

Wessex Water has implemented nature-based solutions in Dorset, particularly in the Poole Harbour Catchment, to reduce levels of nitrate leaching into the groundwater to protect public water supplies. This work has focused on reducing agricultural runoff and improving water quality in the Poole Harbour area. Wessex Water worked with farmers to promote natural practices like planting buffer strips, encouraging the use of cover crops to reduce bare ground over the winter and providing advice to land managers on options available.
 
Through this approach they have collaboratively reduced nitrate leaching by over 60 tonnes of nitrogen in 2022 to 2023, and since 2020 delivered over 80 hectares of habitat improvements. 

Along the River Stour they are restoring natural riverbanks and floodplains which enhance the river’s ability to manage floods while also creating habitats for fish, birds and other species. This has included the use of riparian buffers and wetlands to capture phosphorus rich soil runoff from entering the Stour and its tributaries. These wetlands and woodlands provide important habitats for wildlife, help reduce nutrient pollution, and help to manage flood risks by absorbing excess rainwater. 
A green landscape of leaky dam.
Photo credit: Wessex Water

Potential activities

See what activities people can carry out to help achieve this priority. You can view them all, or just look at the one most relevant to you. These activities are a guide and are not exhaustive, as there are many small activities involved in habitat management and restoring ecosystems.

The activities and Dorset’s nature recovery maps provide a starting point, but additional land management and ecological advice will often be needed to support activities on individual sites. 

Explore by sector

Select the sector you're interested in to see the relevant activities for this priority.

Explore all potential activities

Listed here are all the potential activities for this priority:
  • establish and maintain more native trees in towns and villages to improve air quality, provide shade from extreme heat, increase carbon storage, improve water quality and provide natural flood management. Increase tree canopy cover in all urban areas, especially areas that have the lowest tree equity scores
  • follow a natural flood management (NFM) approach to protect, restore and emulate the natural functions of catchments, floodplains, rivers and the coast
  • create or restore wet habitats in floodplains to help store flood water and catch nutrients and sediment before they enter rivers. These areas can also provide healthy food for livestock to graze during drier weather, and become havens for pollinators and other wildlife. Beavers can be part of the process of creating expanded wetland habitats
  • use farming practices that focus on soil health, structure and maximising carbon and water storage. Farming for soil health helps reduce runoff and slow the flow of water through the catchment to reduce flood risk and improve water quality. Healthy soils also sequester carbon to help address climate change and help food production by smoothing out the flood-drought fluctuations and extending the grazing/growing periods
  • use permeable materials if creating hard surfaces in urban areas, such as driveways, and limit use of sealed surfaces like concrete and artificial grass that water quickly runs over into drains. By redirecting water into natural soakaways, rather than the wastewater system, can help reduce flood risk and reduce the number of storm overflow discharges
  • use sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) in towns and villages, such as rain gardens, swales, street trees and ponds to slow and clean water, and provide wetland or boggy habitat. This can help reduce flood risk and reduce the number of storm overflow discharges
  • use rainwater harvesting to capture rainwater and use this to water plants in residential and community spaces
  • maintain and increase green social prescribing, supporting people to take part in nature-based activities that can help improve health and wellbeing
  • enhance and create habitats to help mitigate climate change, natural habitats capture and store carbon. Peatland, broadleaved woodland and saltmarsh are examples of habitats that tend to be larger carbon stores, but many other habitat types provide some carbon storage, and a variety of habitats is needed for a functioning ecosystem
  • create wetlands to provide final treatment of wastewater before this recycled water is safely returned back into the environment
  • create wetlands to treat discharges of untreated sewage from storm overflows before they are released into rivers and waterways
  • enhance and create hedgerows that slow the flow of water across the landscape, which helps reduce flood risk and improve water quality by reducing the amount of sediment and pollution in rivers. Hedges are also a carbon store, as well as providing wildlife habitats and corridors
  • include fire defendable lines, ponds and emergency service access routes within heathland to reduce wildfire risk, increase the ability to contain fires, and improve resilience to climate change
  • increase tree, hedge and/or wood pasture on farms to provide shade for livestock from extreme heat and slow the flow of water to improve flood protection and water quality
  • restore species-rich grassland to boost soil health, protect against erosion and store carbon
  • use sustainable farming practices to produce healthy food and support initiatives to connect people with local sustainably produced food
  • embed the importance of nature recovery across all organisations so that senior decision-makers champion nature and consider nature-based solutions as part of decision making