Coasts are places of dynamic change â much of the landscape and ecological value of the coast has been formed by the s
Coast in Crisis Protecting wildlife from climate change and sea level rise
Wildlife under threat... • saltmarshes and mudflats • shingle and sand dunes • freshwater wetlands Urgent action needed... • creation of new intertidal habitats • recognising the value of coastal habitats • hydrodynamic studies to inform action • supportive land use planning policies
Coast in Crisis
There is an urgent need to create new intertidal habitats as part of a sustainable coastal defence strategy for Eastern England which will benefit biodiversity, flood defence, fisheries and people. Action is needed to: Give proper recognition of the value of coastal habitats Provide effective mechanisms to create intertidal habitats Adopt supportive land use planning policies Show what intertidal habitat creation means in practice Undertake hydrodynamic studies to inform action
The creation of intertidal habitats takes a long time from planning to reality – at least six years in the case of Freiston Shore on the Wash. The present amount and rate of habitat creation is nowhere near fast enough to keep pace with ongoing losses. Fewer than 100 ha of new habitat have been created in the past 10 years while more than 10 times this figure has been lost to coastal squeeze.
Saltmarshes, like these at Gibralter Point, mudflats and shingle work as natural sea defences. Healthy coastal wetlands also lock up and absorb toxic pollutants, reducing the risk to the wider environment.
C Knights (RSPB Images)
Coasts are places of dynamic change – much of the landscape and ecological value of the coast has been formed by the sea. However the coast of Eastern England is no longer a pristine wilderness. Natural change is constrained by man-made development resulting in habitats being squeezed by fixed flood defences, rising sea levels and increasing ‘storminess’ due to climate change. Consequently coastal habitats are vanishing at a frightening rate, with drastic implications for the wildlife that depends on them.
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Value of coastal habitats for wildlife he coastline of Eastern England supports about a quarter of the UK’s coastal habitats. These habitats are hugely important for maintaining global biodiversity – the variety of life. They support more than a million wildfowl and wading birds and are home to rare and specialised plants and animals. Consequently many areas have been recognised as internationally important under EU Directives.
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Great potential for intertidal habitat creation
Humber Flats, Marshes and Coast
Lincoln
Freshwater habitats at risk from rising seas
Gibraltar Point The Wash
King's Lynn
North Norfolk Coast
Great Yarmouth North Denes
Norwich
Breydon Water
Benacre to Easton Bavents
Minsmere – Walberswick
Bury St Edmunds
Ipswich
Cambridge
Stour and Orwell Estuary
Orfordness – Havergate
Deben Estuary
Colchester
Habitat creation needed to sustain estuaries
Mid-Essex Coast
Special Protection Areas for birds
Freshwater habitats at risk from rising seas
Hamford Water
Benfleet and Southend Marshes
A quarter of the saltmarsh lost in 25 years. Great potential for intertidal habitat creation
Table 1 Coastal Habitats in Eastern England (North Lincs – Thames)1 Habitat Saltmarsh Mudflat and sandflat Shingle Coastal lagoon Sand dune
Current area in hectares
% project loss by 2050 (in hectares)
% of regional resource
12,500
4,331
31
52,000
3,689
7
1,488
44
3
161
60
37
1,331
120
9
Value of coastal habitats for people
f the coast of Eastern England was valuable for only biodiversity, this immense concentration of wildlife would be enough to justify its conservation. However, wildlife is just one part of its overall value.
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A Hay (RSPB Images)
New coastal habitats will benefit wildlife, people, local economies and flood defence.
The east coast has inspired artists and writers for centuries. People are drawn by its natural beauty, its wildness, its freedom, and its special wildlife. The shoreline is widely used by walkers and birdwatchers while other areas are havens for sailing. Visitors contribute to the local economies and coastal communities through their spending. For example, visitor spending linked to Cley and Titchwell nature reserves totals £4.3 million/year supporting the equivalent of 91 jobs2. Coastal ecosystems are among the most productive on the planet – in some cases even more so than tropical rainforests. They provide a vital source of food and shelter for
commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks.
Saltmarshes, mudflats and shingle work as natural sea defences3. They absorb and dissipate the force of the sea and reduce the risk to people and development. Their economic value for flood and coastal defence alone is huge.
Coastal wetlands play a critical role in maintaining water quality – they lock up and process pesticides, nutrients and other pollutants that would otherwise adversely affect the environment4,5.
One study to assess the value of the world’s ecosystems found estuaries to be the most valuable of all habitats with an economic value of £14,000 per hectare each year6 – giving the coastal habitats of Eastern England an annual value of over £900 million. If we had to pay for all these services we would probably give coastal habitat conservation much greater weight.
Coastal squeeze
Environment Agency
Changes in saltmarsh on Hamford Water, Essex, 1973–98
New saltmarsh Eroded saltmarsh
The squeeze on coastal habitats in areas such as Hamford Water, partly due to sea level rise and partly due to land claim and unmoving sea defences, poses a major threat to the coastal zone.
astern England is sinking and the high-tide mark is moving progressively landwards. The most recent predictions are that relative sea level rise in Eastern England will be between 21 and 76 cm by the 2050s7. Normally, as sea level rises, the coastal habitats would move inland. However, they cannot do so because man-made sea walls prevent this. Unable to move, these ecologically and economically important habitats are being increasingly squeezed between fixed sea walls and rising seas. Recent research8 shows that a quarter (a staggering 1000 hectares) of Essex saltmarsh has been lost in the last 25 years. Such losses threaten coastal defence, water quality, fisheries, treasured landscapes as well as valuable ecosystems and wildlife including internationally important waterfowl populations.
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The need to restore intertidal habitats J Sharpe (RSPB Images)
he UK has obligations under the EU Habitats Directive to ‘take appropriate steps to avoid deterioration’ of such habitats. This is reinforced by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, which has established a target of no net loss of intertidal habitats. In Eastern England, where coastal squeeze is dominant, this can only be achieved by creating new intertidal habitats. Given the rate of habitat loss through coastal squeeze and the likely acceleration of losses there is an urgent need to create new intertidal habitats now.
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It is sometimes claimed that there is nowhere for these restored habitats to go but a recent study identified 6,664 ha of land on the coast of Eastern England where intertidal habitat creation may be a realistic option9. The greatest potential is on the Wash (48%) and the Essex coast (33%).
In spite of great efforts, schemes, such as Orplands on the Blackwater Estuary, which restore intertidal habitats have made a slow start. Fewer than 100 hectares were created in the last 10 years and none before that.
Several important initiatives have already begun:
Biodiversity Action Plans have established clear targets for the conservation of important coastal habitats.
English Nature and the Environment Agency (EA), with the support of other Government Departments and nongovernmental organisations, are leading the development of Coastal Habitat Management Plans to reconcile the requirements of the Habitats Directive and the need for coastal defence in naturally dynamic coastal areas.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), which oversees national flood defence policy, has established a target of ‘no net loss’ of habitats covered by Biodiversity Action Plans. MAFF also gives special consideration to the funding of defence schemes to protect internationally important sites where it is judged sustainable to do so.
But more needs to be done to allow the creation of new coastal habitat in advance of expected losses.
A sustainable coast defence strategy for Eastern England
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should be located. Currently SMPs mainly identify existing areas of valuable fresh and brackish water habitats to retreat sea defences12. Where possible new coastal habitats should not be created on land that is
already of recognised wildlife value. MAFF’s guidance is clear – internationally important wetlands should be protected from flooding as long as it is sustainable to do so; and if it is not they should be replaced. A Hay (RSPB Images)
he Environment Agency and its Flood Defence Committees, together with coastal District Councils, are well placed to develop a sustainable coast defence strategy for Eastern England. Coast defence decisions have a profound effect upon coastal wildlife. One of the key tests of a sustainable strategy will be whether it takes full account of the wildlife impacts of coastal squeeze. The objectives of a sustainable coast defence strategy should include: no net loss of existing coastal habitats and creation of new wildlife habitats on the coast, and inland, to make good past losses. Anything less is not sustainable. All the indications are that such a strategy would be economically as well as environmentally efficient10. Indeed Government has agreed that ‘the response to sea level rise should not be the construction of ever higher defences that commit future generations to unsustainable levels of investment’11. Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) and Coastal Habitat Management Plans should determine the amount of habitat to be created in each area and give an indication of where these habitats
The Government is clear that internationally important wetlands, such as the reedbed at Walberswick, should be protected from flooding as long as that is sustainable, and if not they should be replaced.
Where should intertidal habitats be restored?
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The best opportunities in the UK lie on intensively managed farmland of relatively low wildlife value in Eastern England, much of which was formerly saltmarsh. The aim in these areas should be a net increase in the intertidal zone through realignment of sea walls. The Essex Rural Sea Walls Strategy13 identifies some 110 km of sea walls where there is no economic justification for improvement or even maintenance of the defence. The EA is well placed to take a regional overview of coastal habitat creation in Eastern England.
The Essex Rural Sea Walls Strategy identifies some 110 km of frontage where there is no economic justification for improvement or even maintenance of the sea defences.
J Sharpe (RSPB Images)
aken together the Essex coast and the Wash can deliver the new mudflats and saltmarsh needed to sustain wildlife in Eastern England. However, it may be necessary to make good losses from one area in another. Where there are towns and villages, retreat of sea defences will be socially unacceptable and unrealistically expensive. In consequence there will be losses of valuable intertidal habitats on the developed coast. To offset these inevitable losses, the intertidal zone needs to be increased where realignment is possible.
To restore intertidal habitats, action is needed to: Give greater recognition to the value of coastal habitats The flood defence strategy of MAFF/EA/coastal District Councils should give greater weight in project planning and appraisal to the multiple benefits that arise from healthy coastal habitats.
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Undertake hydrodynamic studies to inform action There is an urgent need for EA to undertake extensive hydrodynamic studies to show where it will be beneficial to create new intertidal habitat.
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Provide effective mechanisms to create intertidal habitat The new Intertidal Habitat component of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme needs to be effectively targeted and resourced to promote uptake. In addition, MAFF should grant aid land purchase in conjunction with flood defence schemes where this will increase the sustainability of the coastal defence and contribute to the delivery of UK Biodiversity Action Plan targets.
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Show what intertidal habitat creation means in practice Intertidal habitat creation projects in Essex have highlighted the importance of demonstration sites to show habitat creation in practice to local people and organisations. These sites increase the understanding and acceptability of sustainable coastal management. Site projects are vital to change attitudes so that intertidal habitat creation becomes widely accepted.
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Adopt supportive land use planning policies We need supportive land use planning policies in Regional Planning Guidance, County Structure Plans and Local plans which: ● recognise the need for the creation of intertidal habitat; ● presume against development in areas at risk of flooding and suitable for habitat creation.
Lee M, 1998. The implications of future shoreline management on protected habitats in England and Wales. Report to Environment Agency by University of Newcastle. RSPB, 2000. Valuing Norfolk’s Coast, environment – wildlife – tourism – quality of life. RSPB, Norwich. National Rivers Authority, 1995. A guide to the understanding and management of saltmarshes. R&D Note 324. NRA Bristol. Desbonnet, A et al, 1995. Development of Coastal Vegetative Buffer Programmes. Coastal Management, Vol 23, pp91-109. Nedwell, DB 1996. Saltmarshes as processors of nutrients in the estuarine and coastal system. Symposium on British Saltmarshes, conference papers. Linnean Society of London. Costanza, R et al 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. In: Nature, Vol 387 Hulme, M and Jenkins, G, 1999. Climate Change Scenarios for the United Kingdom. UKCIP Technical Report No. 1, UEA, Norwich Coastal Geomorphology Partnership, 2000. Erosion of the saltmarshes in Essex between 1988 and 1998. Report to Environment Agency by University of Newcastle. Sharpe, J, 1999. An Evaluation of Potential Sites for Intertidal Habitat Creation in East Anglia. In: Proceedings of 34th MAFF Conference of River and Coastal Engineers. MAFF, London. Bowers, J, 1999. An Economically Efficient Strategy for Coastal Defence and the Conservation of the Intertidal Zone. Wildlife Trusts and WWF, Newark. MAFF, 1998. Government Response to the Agriculture Committee report on Flood and Coastal Defence. HMSO. RSPB 1997 Coast in Crisis – world famous wetlands at risk in Norfolk and Suffolk. RSPB, Sandy Environment Agency 1998 Essex Sea Wall Management Strategy. Environment Agency and Halcrow, Peterborough
Eastern England Coastal Wildlife Partnership c/o RSPB East Anglia Regional Office Stalham House, 65 Thorpe Road, Norwich NR1 1UD Tel: 01603 661662 www.rspb.org.uk Written by John Sharpe. Designed and published by the RSPB with endorsement from The National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts of Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Essex and the WWF-UK.
The greatest potential for habitat restoration lies on the Wash and Essex coast. Sixty-five hectares of saltmarsh will be created at Freiston Shore on the Wash.
Front cover: C Knights (RSPB Images)
C H Gomersall (RSPB Images)
A Hay (RSPB Images)
Without action now, new habitats will not be created at a fast enough rate to counter current and future losses to the detriment of wildlife and people.
RSPB Registered charity no 207076
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85-752-99-00
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