‘Pop-up rainforests’ grown to reduce carbon and flooding

Yorkshire Water has embarked on a project to cut carbon and reduce flooding using cover crops in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

As part of the Sustainable Landscapes Humber Project, the water company is working with farmers to grow plants in between their harvesting and sowing cycles that will capture CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Crops such as wheat, barley and oil seed rap could be planted between routine crops to create what is known as pop up rainforests because of the potential to sequester atmospheric carbon. The cover crops would also increase organic soil matter, which has fallen by 50 per cent over the past 60 years and in turn reduce the need for artificial intervention such as chemicals that could leach into waterways.

Andrew Walker, asset strategy manager at Yorkshire, said: “Growing cover crops to increase soil organic matter is one of the most effective way of combatting the major environmental issues we face today. In just seven weeks, they generate enough carbon-sequestering organic material to make a significant dent in atmospheric CO₂.

He said the project would also reduce or mitigate the impacts of flooding on nearby Hull.

“Research shows that achieving just a one per cent increase in soil organic matter would enable agricultural land to store an extra 200,000 litres of water per hectare,” Walker said. “Therefore, this project has huge implications for flood attenuation in and around Hull.”

The Sustainable Landscapes Humber Project is a collaboration between Yorkshire Water, Nomad Foods-owned Birds Eye and Future Food Solutions. Hull and Teesside universities will monitor soil organic matter, water content and other metrics on an ongoing basis.

Professor Dan Parsons of the University of Hull said the project is an exemplar of how to optimise landscape use to improve bio-diversity and reduce flooding risks while adding value for the farmers.

“The innovative practice that will be demonstrated by the project, through digitalisation and high-resolution monitoring and modelling, holds great promise in shaping our use, management and interactions with landscapes into the future,” Parsons said.