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Wallasea Island |
Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project
Four hundred years ago, the Essex coast was a wild and beautiful place, a haven for wildlife and a source of livelihood for local communities. Today, less than a tenth of this wild coast remains. The RSPB Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project aims to restore this special landscape for people and wildlife in the 21st Century, helping adaptation to the challenges of climate change, and sea level rise by providing space for nature and a place for relaxation and enjoyment. What is the RSPB's Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project?It will be an exciting landmark conservation and engineering project for the 21st Century on a scale never before attempted in the UK, and the largest of its type in Europe. It will demonstrate how land can be managed to help the coast and its wildlife adapt in the face of climate change and accelerated sea level rise. The RSPB is working to transform a large area of arable farmland at Wallasea Island, in the heart of an internationally important estuary, back into coastal marshland. This will create a wetland mosaic of mudflats and saltmarshes, shallow lagoons and pastures. These will be criss-crossed by bunds along which visitors will be able to access much of this new 'Wild Coast'. It will demonstrate how land can be managed to help the coast and its wildlife adapt in the face of climate change Because the land is very low-lying, clay, chalk and gravel excavated from the Crossrail project will be brought to Wallasea by ship. This will create new habitats and minimise the effect of the managed realignment on the rest of the estuary. This project is close to the Thames Gateway and will be the closest accessible 'Wild Coast' for many people in South Essex. This project has been developed through a broad partnership with extensive consultation to ensure that adjacent interests are not adversely affected.
This is a partnership project conceived by the RSPB, with agreement with the owners (Wallasea Farms) that the RSPB will purchase most of the island. Project partners include Crossrail and the Envronment Agency. Quite simply, Wallasea Island will be the largest and most important coastal habitat creation scheme in the UK, close to the Thames Gateway, Europe's largest growth area. Find out moreMore information on the project will be provided through updates to these pages as work progresses. Chris Tyas, the Wallasea Island Project Manager, can be contacted at the following address: RSPB, 1 Old Hall Lane, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8TP. E-mail: chris.tyas@rspb.org.uk We need your helpA project of this scale will need considerable help and support to realise our vision and can only go ahead once substantial funding has been secured. If you can help, by supporting this exciting project, please donate to the project online. If you prefer, you can write a cheque payable to the RSPB. Send it to: RSPB Eastern England regional office
If you would like to discuss with us further ways of supporting the project, please contact Chris Tyas. Pledge your support and share your stories You can also pledge your support for our vision for Wallasea by e-mailing the project team (chris.tyas@rspb.org.uk). Do you have any recollections of the Essex coastline when it was a wilder place? Do you have any photographs of a wild Wallasea that you'd like to share with us? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Last modified: 01 December 2008 |
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Wreck of old boat in saltmarsh at managed realignment/retreat site, Wallasea Island, Essex - RSPB Images - Ben Hall (rspb-images.com, Ref: 1019661 )
Male yellow wagtail singing - Steve Round
Redshank - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com, Ref: 1019405 )
Bird illustrations by Mike Langman (RSPB)