Now before you take offence - that means WRITTEN by an idiot! Following an enlightening one-day conference organised by ABPMer I am now a lot wiser, and thought I'd pass on some interesting facts about the sort of scheme that will be used in parts of the Wild Coast Project.
The threat of sea level rise and flood risk means that there is an increasing need for a planned approach to shoreline management. Coastal Managed Realignment was first undertaken on a small scale at Northey Island in 1991. However, it had been practised before this in Germany and the US. There are now 50 completed projects in the UK totalling about 1400 hectares - Wallasea will contribute another 465ha to this total. Over the last 20 years, a significant amount of expertise has been built up in how to implement these schemes and how they develop overtime. Research on sites is ongoing but there is still a huge need for more to be done on , for example, how the plant life develops on a recreated marshland.
Managed realignment can yield not only flood risk and habitat benefits, but also a wide range of additional ones. The use of these ecosystems to society is now becoming more apparent and more widely recognised. In fact these schemes should really be seen as change of use not loss of land, as diversification into businesses such as rare breed grazing ( think cheese, wool and saltmarsh lamb!),samphire harvesting, oyster fishing and sea fish nurseries. Not to mention the already trumpeted recreational uses for local and touring members of society. In addition to the recreation of wildlife habitat, often as compensation for areas lost elsewhere, saltmarsh is also a carbon sink, comparable or even superior, to that of heathland. Perhaps the rapidly developing business of carbon offsetting, planting trees etc., will soon include creating saltmarsh.
The RSPB has been active in pressing for coastal habitat restoration for many years now and has had an interesting and challenging journey along the way. They are now well placed in working with a number of partners to play an important part in its future. Next time you look at a local estuary and think its just mud and sea lavender - think again!
I've gone wild on Wallasea!