Lotte Large, RSPB Futurescape Officer, East of England
In the aftermath of the highest storm surge since the Great Flood of 1953, communities are now taking stock of the damage to our eastern coastline. As people assess the damage to their homes and businesses, our staff have been doing the same with our nature reserves along the coast.
The news has been focussing on the success of sea walls, which in the conservation world are known as hard sea defences. These can be hugely effective, however what has been less forthcoming is how natural processes and what we term as ‘soft sea defences’ have played their part in protecting our coastline from further damage. Beaches, mudflats and salt marsh are all forms of natural sea defence where the power and force of waves are naturally diminished before reaching land. Soft sea defences are a cheap option compared to sea walls as they don’t need the same level of maintenance and are designed to work with natural processes rather than by restricting them. These natural sea defences work for wildlife and provide beautiful places for people to visit along the coast. There’s a great example of natural and man-made sea defences working well together at our Titchwell Marsh nature reserve on the North Norfolk Coast.
In 2011 we completed the Titchwell Coastal Change project which was specifically designed to provide a sustainable flood defence solution to cope with changing coastal processes and rising sea levels. The project included a new sea wall, which is what we normally think of when talking about sea defence. However, an opening was intentionally made in one end of the wall so that the seawater could find its way through and onto the brackish (a mix of fresh and sea water) marsh behind, which will eventually turn into salt marsh. The sea wall protects the freshwater habitats of the nature reserve and the salt marsh will in turn protect the wall itself by relieving the pressure it has to deal with from the sea. Sounds complicated but its actually a very simple natural process.
Titchwell was hit by the storm surge last night and the sea overtopped the wall due to the extraordinarily high waves. Sand dunes and paths have been damaged, however the staff are very relieved to report that the damage would have been catastrophic had the Coastal Change Project not been achieved a few years ago.
Titchwell after the storm / Steve Rowland
We can learn a lot from natural habitats and their relationship with the sea. By working with natural processes rather than attempting to restrict them we can find ways of protecting not only our homes but our natural environment in a sustainable way. The recent IPCC report on climate change served as a stark warning that the intensity of weather events will increase, and the seas will continue to rise.
Now is the time to start looking at how nature can benefit people and help us adapt to the effects of climate change into the future.