From dense forests and quiet wetlands to endless grasslands, lies a solution to one of Canada’s most pressing challenges in the vast wilderness of this country: urban flooding. A pioneering study released by the University of British Columbia found quiet, often overlooked ecosystems to be key solutions in the protection of cities and millions of lives against the ravages of floodwaters.
A new study led by UBC forestry expert Dr. Matthew Mitchell shows just how much is at stake when preserving natural landscapes. Saving just five percent of watersheds-that’s two percent of Canada’s land area-could protect over half of urban floodplains across the country. This would protect an estimated 3.7 million Canadians living in areas directly protected by these ecosystems, making this flood defence cheaper and more sustainable than engineered counterparts.
Nature’s Role in Flood Defence
This is the first study in Canada on how ecosystems serve as natural buffers against flooding. “Conserving nature is not only about biodiversity but also about communities and creating a resilient city to face the effects of climate change,” said Dr. Mitchell.
Forests, wetlands, and grasslands help to slow the flow of water into rivers and urban areas by acting like natural sponges which soak and absorb water during heavy rain. They reduce sudden surges that may prove too much for flood defenses and relieve artificial pressure on dams and levees by holding water and letting it out gradually.
While these natural areas are cleared for development and agriculture, the flood risks increase. This water flows unconfined into rivers and urban systems and causes more frequent and severer flooding.
Strategic Conservation
That is the message of the study, speaking to the strategic value of targeted conservation efforts by identifying where the best places are for preserving ecosystems to protect urban flood protection across Canada-from the mountainous landscapes of British Columbia to the wetlands of Ontario.
For instance, wetland storage of water and purification functions provide a specific safeguard to floodplains in urban areas. In like manner, forests in watersheds regulate stream flows and prevent the possibility of erosion that leads to subsequent flooding in downstream areas. Preservation of Canada’s high impact regions will make it more resilient to climate change while protecting sensitive populations.
A Greater Context for Resilience
This is now the right time in history to conduct such research because of climate change, which makes extreme weather events happen more frequently and intensely. These increase the floods most likely to be the worst flooding in Canada, especially among the costliest and disruptive natural disasters.
It was established that conserving ecosystems was not only an environmental necessity but also a very practical response to an ever-increasing threat. The investment in nature-based solutions meant that costly infrastructure projects such as dams and levees might not be necessary, while it paved a way for benefits such as clean air, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity protection.
Above all, the research points out linkages of the urban and natural systems. It is thus conceivable to directly conserve upstream ecosystems for downstream communities. Applying this principle would address environmental, social, and economic adaptation to climate change in a single blow.
The Future Course of Action
Such promising efforts at wide-scale conservation are still often thwarted by conflicting land-use demands and a dependence on coordinated policy frameworks. But the promise of such benefits far outweighs these obstacles.
Research from Dr. Mitchell, the other cost-effective method to climate resiliency aligns with one of the broad goals from Canada pertaining to sustainability and wellbeing in the community: pretty cool that protecting only a fraction of land of the country will be safe from floods, lessens public infrastructure demand, and creates a more sustainable tomorrow.
With urbanized cities and deepening climate crisis, the message of this research is plain: nature is not something to beat but a fellow player in the game for combating climate change. Acknowledging that ecosystems within Canada possess power and taking efforts toward their conservation would change the country’s direction regarding the resilience of cities, people, and possibly the planet, all which could flourish in uncertainty.