Petition Launches To Plant More Trees To Combat Flooding

This Petition Has Highlighted A Devastatingly Simple Solution To Flooding

A petition has launched which has highlighted a devastatingly simple solution to the current flooding crisis sweeping the UK.

It puts across the point that a change in environment can have an extraordinary effect on the amount of water that can be soaked up on our streets.

It argues that planting more trees will reduce flooding by improving the soil and drainage, and the root systems will hold together the soil and improve drainage.

The online protest writes "flood defences have been useless we need trees/hedgerows to support the ecosystem."

A street in Yorkshire devastated by floods

Some 14,006 people have currently signed the petition to the government, which will now receive an official response for gaining over 10,000 signatures.

Although topical, the idea of planting more trees to help flood defences is not new.

In 2014, after the country saw similar devastation, former environment minister, Lord Rooker argued for swathes of pastures to be transformed into woodland.

He said new forests would slow flooding by trapping water with their roots, which was named "rewilding".

The Environment Secretary at the time, Owen Paterson, said he would seriously consider innovative solutions like rewilding.

The petition has launched at a time when vast areas of the UK have been hit by flooding and more rainfall is expected in the coming weeks.

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