Sustainable Landscapes Humber Project
The Sustainable Landscapes Humber Project is a series of “pop-up rainforests” across East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire designed to increase organic soil matter.
This is to help capture CO2 from the atmosphere, reduce flood risk and improve soil health.
The project is a collaboration between Yorkshire Water Nomad Foods-owned Birds Eye, Future Food Solutions and Hull and Teesside universities, with over 40 farmers from across the region taking part by growing cover crops between harvesting and sowing.
HOW IT WORKS
As soil organic matter has fallen by 50% over the past 60 years, using cover crops to restore these levels not only has the potential to re-establish soil health, but could also help contribute to reversing the ongoing rise in atmospheric CO2 levels.
Research shows that achieving just a 1% increase in soil organic matter would enable agricultural land to store an extra 200,000 litres of water per hectare, therefore aiding flood attenuation and helping to reduce flood risk.
Trials have already achieved a dramatic rise in soil organic matter, more than doubling levels in just five years, from 3% to over 6%.
