Revised valuation of flood regulation services of existing forest cover to inform natural capital accounts

This report provides updated evidence on the value of existing woodland in England, Scotland and Wales in regulating flood flows and reducing flood risk in downstream communities. This is a ground-breaking area of analysis that is attempting to improve on what was previously a significant evidence gap in the economic value of woodland. The study updates a previous evaluation (Broadmeadow et al., 2018) with improved estimates for the volume of flood water potentially removed by woodland or retained by its hydraulic roughness. The impacts of woodlands are compared with two alternative land uses, short grass and bare soil. The scope of the analysis was also extended to include the contribution of conifer woodlands, small woodlands, and trees outside of woodlands. A companion report (Fitch et al., 2022) is available that applies the approach to other natural capital types, including woodland, although values are not directly comparable due to methodological differences.