The Otago Regional Council (ORC) is exploring the potential of Nature-based Solutions or ‘green infrastructure’ like wetlands and planting to help reduce the effects of flooding in Otago.

Nature-based Solutions are practical ways to use nature’s own processes to solve challenges. Practices like restoring wetlands to soak up floodwater and filter pollutants from stormwater run-off, and native planting to reduce erosion could reduce the impacts of flooding and complement other hard engineering flood solutions used by ORC,  like drainage channels and flood banks.

In many parts of the world, Nature-based Solutions are implemented on both public and privately owned land, with landowners and local councils or governments working together for the benefit of the wider community.

We want to understand how you feel about us taking this approach to flood resilience. If you were in a position to, would you be open to implementing Nature-based Solutions on your property? What might it take to make this happen?

Your responses are for information purposes only, to help with our thinking in this area. We want to understand any roadblocks around adopting Nature-based Solutions on properties in Otago (like cost, maintenance or access) and identify any possible opportunities to collaborate in this space.

Before you get started, below is a poster showing some examples of different Nature-based Solutions that could work in Otago, as well as a list of their wider benefits for landowners, the community and the environment.

Here is a link to a recent NIWA report on Nature-based Solutions, if you’d like more information. You can also find more Nature-based Solutions information here.