Nature-based management is making rivers more resilient. New research shows progress in Australia towards United Nations goals, making rivers more able to recover from flood, drought and other impacts. In July 2022, the 120-kilometre Wollombi Brook, which flows north into the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, suffered one of its biggest floods on record. And it held up remarkably well, says Professor Kirstie Fryirs of the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University. ‘Yes, there was widespread inundation, but the flood waters were slower and the vegetation prevented large scale erosion and sediment movement. ‘All the hard work that a very active community put into nature-based rehabilitation for more than 20 years, such as continuous streamside revegetation, played a role in this outcome.’ It is one of the best examples in Australia of sustainable environmental restoration in the management of rivers, she says