Science in the Club: Nature-based Solutions for flood resilience

Are you interested in understanding more about how Nature-based Solutions can be used for flood mitigation in the Richmond River catchment? Richmond Landcare Inc. invites you to come along to a Science in the Club event as part of the Richmond River RiverFest 2025. This engaging evening will share information about how Nature-based Solutions are being used globally and can be used locally to reduce the impacts of floods and restore healthy landscapes. 

Guest speaker Associate Professor Roslyn Prinsley from Australian National University (Head of Disaster Solutions at Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions) will share key findings from an extensive review of scientific literature, which advance the current understanding of Nature-based Solutions’ effectiveness and offers evidence-based guidance for implementing catchment-scale flood mitigation strategies. Nature-based solutions have emerged as sustainable alternatives to conventional flood management, offering environmental and societal benefits beyond flood protection. ANU has recently published Nature-based Solutions for flood mitigation in Australia - a set of guidelines which show how these solutions can be used effectively in different regions in Australia.  

Our second speaker is Project Manager Louissa Rogers (Richmond Landcare Inc.), who will share work being undertaken locally through the pilot project Nature-Based Solutions Project: Building Flood Resilience in the Lismore Catchment. This important pilot is focusing on revegetation of riparian and floodplain areas in upper sub-catchment streams of the Wilson’s River catchment and is collecting evidence to quantify the reduction in the volume and intensity of flooding in the mid to lower catchment. The project will also have the secondary benefit of reducing erosion and improving water quality.  

After hearing from our two presenters there will be plenty of time for Q&A and discussion of how nature-based solutions can be used in our own catchments to reduce the impacts of flooding, improve river health.  

Nibbles will be available on arrival. Dinner and drinks are available to purchase from the club. 

Richmond Landcare’s Nature-Based Solutions project received funding from the Australian Government. Richmond RiverFest has been made possible with support from the Australian Government and North Coast Regional Landcare Network through the Caring for Catchments project.