Ecological restoration can moderate flooding in these watercourses and reduce flood peaks downstream of restoration sites by making use of retentive measures in the catchment, riparian zone and in-stream channel. With further climate change, mean annual discharge is likely to increase in many streams and rivers in the northern parts of the Nordic countries, although with more restricted water-level variations. A higher frequency of extreme rain storms may, however, lead to more large floods in the future, especially in small streams (Nilsson et al. A proactive approach to large floods in the future, with a focus on the sustainability and services of free-flowing river ecosystems, means that certain land use practices have to move away from the most flood prone areas.