The Somerset Levels is a breath-taking 160,000 acre expanse of low-lying flat land in the West Country, rich in history, archaeology and wildlife. It is made up of wetlands, rivers and man-made drainage channels known as “rhynes.” Much of the area lies at or just above sea level, making it highly fertile but also extremely vulnerable to flooding. 

 

Increased heavy rainfall in recent years has led to annual flooding that is more frequent and harder to manage. The floods of 2013-14 raised the alarm on how severe the problem could be, saturating farmland and leaving villages like Muchelney cut off by floodwater for ten weeks. It inspired local tree planting group, Reimagining the Levels, to set up and plant tens of thousands of trees to help break up the flow of flood water, channelling it underground via the tree root networks.