Flooding can cause businesses thousands of pounds, not to mention the loss of staff working hours and damage to buildings.
In fact the Environment Agency estimates the annual cost to property alone is £1 billion with this number spiralling to £2.5 billion when taking into account disruption, damage to infrastructure and loss of business.
New research by Manchester University has recently come to light which states that planting trees can reduce surface water run-off by as much as 80% compared to using typical ground covering materials like asphalt.
Senior woodland advisor at the Woodland Trust, Mike Townsend, said: " The increase in surface water flooding is a combination of an increase in the frequency of very heavy rainfall, and an increase in hard surfaced areas in towns and cities from roads, car parks, building, patios and paved over front gardens.
"Businesses can reduce the risk of surface water flooding to themselves and their neighbours by increasing the amount of porous surfaces, such as landscaped areas, which can absorb rainfall. In many cases this may be a problem – where space is short or car parks and other hard surfaces already exist. However planting trees into pits in car parks and elsewhere can help to intercept rain, reducing the rate at which it reaches the ground and flows into drains."
The university's experiment involved creating nine test plots, each with three separate plots. These contained one with a tree surrounded by asphalt, another with just asphalt and a third with just grass. Surface run-off was directed towards a drain and measured using a tipping- bucket gauge to measure both the total amount and rate of water runoff.
This suggests that the plots with trees helped reduce surface water runoff by as much as 80% compared with the asphalt surface.
The undisturbed soil of woodland helps reduce runoff by absorbing water which infiltrates into the soil through natural drainsgae channels – the sponge effect. The annual shedding of leaves and other dead material also leads to an increase in organic soil matter which in turn leads to more water being stored.
This sponge effect has been shown to reduce the peak flows of water following heavy rainfall - reducing the rate at which water runs into drains ditches and eventually rivers.
For more information on how trees can help protect your businesses contact the corporate partnerships team on 01476 581 112 or email corporatepartnerships@woodlandtrust.org.uk