A saltmarsh habitat created over 20 years ago is now playing a crucial role in protecting carbon stores.

The “managed realignment” project at Abbotts Hall on the Blackwater Estuary, near Colchester, involved breaching sea walls along a 3 km stretch in 2002 to form nearly 50 hectares of saltmarsh and intertidal habitat.

Conservationists stress the importance of protecting and restoring saltmarshes to combat climate change.

Adam Nixon, a coastal ranger at Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT), noted that while Essex is home to many saltmarshes, they are at risk, with 85% of the UK’s saltmarshes lost since the mid-1800s.

“It’s estimated that every year the seabed and saltmarshes store around 13 million tonnes of carbon, it’s almost three times more than our terrestrial land forests,” he said.

“Releasing this carbon would speed up the global warming process.”

In addition to saltmarsh, the scheme at Abbotts Hall created 35 hectares of coastal grassland and other habitats, including a freshwater lake. The area now hosts diverse wildlife, with samphire, sea aster, and sea lavender recolonising the land, and nationally rare species like shrubby sea blite thriving.

Fish such as European bass, grey mullet, and common goby inhabit the saltmarsh’s water channels, while birds like marsh harriers, brent geese, and short-eared owls frequent the area.

Rachel Langley, head of marine and coastal recovery at EWT, described saltmarshes as key “blue carbon” habitats, vital for storing carbon and supporting biodiversity.

“Saltmarsh provides shelter and a feeding ground for young fish species, and also provides benefits in terms of flood alleviation for communities and terrestrial habitats along the coast,” she said.

She said saltmarshes had a value to people as “one of our last wilderness habitats in the UK”.

“You’ve got the moody estuaries and that feeling, it can be quiet or you just hear the odd curlew sound in the winter, it is really evocative and you can really feel that connection to nature,” she said.

She highlighted the sensory richness of the estuary, with its changing plant colours, birdlife, and the unseen yet vibrant ecosystem beneath the water.

“I think it’s really quite special,” she said, adding: “Standing on a marsh is completely different to a feeling you get anywhere else.”

These efforts align with findings from the newly published Blue Carbon Mapping Project, which offers the first estimate of carbon stored in the UK’s seabed habitats.

The project underscores the importance of preserving saltmarshes to enhance biodiversity and combat the climate crisis.

 

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