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When The Sea Comes In
FridayÌý22 April
Dylan Winter discovers how to turn arable fields into saltmarsh.
Essex saltmarsh in East Anglia.
The Essex marshes are a wonderfully wild and beautiful place. Convoluted channels, mud and specialised plants form a magnificent habitat for birds and fish. They also act as a natural defence against flooding.
As the tide comes in the energy of the water is dissipated as it travels through the channels making it less likely that huge surges will cause damage to areas further inland.
The saltings are disappearing at an alarming rate because of a combination of sea level rise and sinking land.
One place trying to do something about the decline in saltmarsh is Abbotts Hall farm in Essex,ÌýÌýowned by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
The farmÌýis currently a few years into a very special project that is taking arable land, once protected by a sea wall, back to salt marsh - literally by letting the sea flood back.
Ancient sea walls all along the East Anglian coast are crumbling because of age and increased pressure. One method of flood defence is to knockdown a stretch of the sea walls to let once arable fields slowly turn back to marsh.Ìý In turn this helps the wildlife that depend on the intertidal zones.
An added bonus is that the new areas are proving to be perfect nursery grounds for North SeaÌýfish, so by creating new salt marsh we may actually be helping fish stocks in the sea recover from over fishing.
