Wallasea Island

Walk along seawalls to see the newly-created saltmarsh, mudflats and lagoons. Take a stroll around the grassland to catch a glimpse of short-eared owls or marsh harriers and watch over the river to see common seals haul themselves out.

To create this magical landscape of marshland, lagoons, ditches and sea, more than three million tonnes of earth was brought by boat from the tunnels and shafts created by the Crossrail scheme in London. This allowed us to raise the land above sea level and place the soil in a way that created a new 115-hectare intertidal area of saltmarsh, islands and mudflats (known as Jubilee Marsh).

In addition, Crossrail helped us create saline lagoons, a creek network and grazing marsh. All of which means Wallasea Island is now a wildlife-rich habitat and a great place to visit.

We manage the saline lagoons using sluices to control water levels and we aim to create a variety of depths of water to suit different species. Our wet grassland is grazed by cattle to manage the grass length for wading birds and raptors. Jubilee Marsh needs minimal management as the tide comes in and out, bringing with it sediment, seeds and other bits of plants, which provides habitat for the invertebrates and fish which the birds then feed on.

In the south of the reserve we have created a series of shallowly flooded saline lagoons to attract overwintering waders and wildfowl and, in the summer, nesting birds such as avocets, little ringed plovers and hopefully black-winged stilts.

Wallasea Island sits within a Special Protection Area which covers the Crouch and Roach estuaries, and which is special for overwintering waders and wildfowl including Brent Geese. Our work here increases the habitat for these birds both whilst roosting and feeding, as well as creating new grassland areas (wet and dry). The intertidal areas have been designed with climate change in mind, with long shallow slopes from the new seawall providing space for the saltmarsh to creep up as sea levels rise.

We have worked together with a number of partners on this project:

• Crossrail - More than three million tonnes of soil was brought here by sea. By raising the land, we reduced the amount of water that came in when we breached the seawall. We were able to place the soil so that a range of habitats can develop, from lagoons and islands to mudflats and saltmarsh.
• Environment Agency - The Environment Agency provided significant funding, which helped ensure the project could proceed. This funding secured 155 hectares of saltmarsh and mudflat on Wallasea Island as replacement intertidal habitat that goes some way to offsetting that lost elsewhere on the Essex Coast.
• Defra - One of the key aims of the project was to build on the success of the 110-hectare Allfleets Marsh on Wallasea Island. This area of saltmarsh and mudflats was created by Defra in 2006 as part of a managed realignment scheme, with holes made in the old sea wall in order to create intertidal habitat behind a new sea wall.
• Natural England - Natural England now manages Allfleets Marsh on behalf of Defra, and RSPB are the managing agents for Natural England. Natural England and Defra are key partners in the project.

The reserve covers more than 740ha, with all of the arable farmland now transformed to saltmarsh, mudflats, lagoons and grazing marsh.

There are six walking trails – Jubilee Marsh, Allfleets Marsh, Marsh Flats, South Trail, New Pool Trail and Beagle Trail, making over 15km of trail on the reserve. At the ends of Allfleets Marsh trail and Jubilee Marsh trail are two shelters providing a comfortable place to sit overlooking the river. There is a temporary portaloo on site at the moment but we do hope that in time we will add permanent toilets and more viewing facilities.

Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project

More details on the making of Wallasea Island can be found here.