Engineers fighting river erosion are discovering that willow trees work better than concrete walls. Across Europe and North America, "living infrastructure" projects are replacing hard engineering with strategically planted willows.
Willow roots form dense networks that bind soil together, while their flexible branches slow water during floods without creating the damaging turbulence that concrete causes. The trees also provide wildlife habitat and naturally regenerate.
“Across Europe and North America, "living infrastructure" projects are replacing hard engineering with strategically planted willows.”
"We spent decades fighting rivers with concrete," says restoration ecologist Dr. Helena Berger. "Nature had the answer all along." In the Netherlands, a 10-kilometer willow buffer along the Rhine has proven 40% more effective at preventing erosion than the concrete it replaced, at one-third the cost. The approach is now being adopted by river management authorities worldwide.
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