The RSPB has been forced to take radical action to save one of its best-loved reserves from the sea.Titchwell Marsh on the north Norfolk coast faces inundation by the North Sea, which is slowly but surely eroding the 30-year-old sea walls that protect it.
To stave off catastrophe the RSPB has decided it must allow the sea to reclaim part of the reserve in order to save the rest.
If the waters were to break through then the entire reserve, a mix of brackish and fresh water marshes and scarce reedbed, will be lost along with rare breeding birds like the bittern and marsh harrier.
The loss of the reserve would also hit the local economy, with Titchwell Marsh employing local people and attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the area every year.
Under the scheme, the sea wall will be moved back behind the present brackish marsh, which will be allowed to return to tidal saltmarsh.
This will allow new and improved sea defences to protect the fresh water marsh and the reedbeds with their precious breeding bitterns from the rising tides. At the same time visitor facilities will be enhanced and it is hoped the newly created saltmarsh will become an attraction in its own right.
While Titchwell’s iconic avocets nest on islands in the brackish marsh, some have already moved to the adjacent fresh water marsh. In addition, the RSPB plans to create new sites nesting sites at its Freiston Shore and Frampton Marsh reserves, some 19 miles away as the avocet flies, on the Lincolnshire side of The Wash.
The work carried out at Titchwell Marsh should secure the much-loved site’s future for at least 50 years, by which time the danger of further erosion may have past.Rob Coleman, the reserve’s manager, said: “I know this is a huge change for Titchwell and for the very many people who share our deep love for the reserve, but the need to go ahead with this scheme was clear.
“We faced a stark choice between sacrificing the brackish marsh or losing the whole site to the sea.
“In drawing up these changes we have listened hard to local people and to visitors. As a result, the new-look site will keep and improve on all the things that make Titchwell special for them.”
Notes:
1. A potted history of the Titchwell Marsh site:
Titchwell Marsh was first claimed from the sea for farming and agriculture. Sea walls were built and the whole area of the current reserve was taken out of the surrounding saltmarsh, enclosed and used as arable farmland and grazing marsh. During the Second World War, part of the area was also used by the military as a tank range.
After the floods of 1953, the sea walls were not rebuilt and the area went back to saltmarsh. It was left like that for 20 years.
The RSPB bought the site in 1973, building walls to protect 56ha from the sea. In the 1990s, an area of dunes in front of the reserve was eroded by the sea, and formed a creek and the current tidal marsh.
2. Two long shore drift systems going in opposite directions meet at Titchwell and continually move sediment away from the site, causing erosion. This is linked to the presence of Scolt Head, a spit that is gradually extending westwards along the coast towards Titchwell Marsh; around 50 years from now, it is expected to provide a barrier protecting the reserve.
3. Titchwell Marsh is one of the RSPB’s most visited reserves, where people can take a walk from the visitor centre down to the sandy beach, past reedbeds and shallow lagoons full of birds. In summer, marsh harriers float over the reeds, which are home to bitterns and bearded tits. On the lagoons are avocets, gulls and terns. In autumn and winter, the reserve plays host to 20 species of wading birds and to large numbers of ducks and geese.
4. The RSPB are hosting Titchwell Marsh Coastal Change Project Information Days where you can meet and talk to RSPB staff and volunteers involved in the project.
Information days will be taking place on:
Friday 19th September at Brancaster village hall, 1pm-7pm
Sunday 21st September at Titchwell Marsh nature reserve, 11am-7pm
Monday 22nd September at Thornham village hall, 2.30pm-7pm
1. A potted history of the Titchwell Marsh site:
Titchwell Marsh was first claimed from the sea for farming and agriculture. Sea walls were built and the whole area of the current reserve was taken out of the surrounding saltmarsh, enclosed and used as arable farmland and grazing marsh. During the Second World War, part of the area was also used by the military as a tank range.
After the floods of 1953, the sea walls were not rebuilt and the area went back to saltmarsh. It was left like that for 20 years.
The RSPB bought the site in 1973, building walls to protect 56ha from the sea. In the 1990s, an area of dunes in front of the reserve was eroded by the sea, and formed a creek and the current tidal marsh.
2. Two long shore drift systems going in opposite directions meet at Titchwell and continually move sediment away from the site, causing erosion. This is linked to the presence of Scolt Head, a spit that is gradually extending westwards along the coast towards Titchwell Marsh; around 50 years from now, it is expected to provide a barrier protecting the reserve.
3. Titchwell Marsh is one of the RSPB’s most visited reserves, where people can take a walk from the visitor centre down to the sandy beach, past reedbeds and shallow lagoons full of birds. In summer, marsh harriers float over the reeds, which are home to bitterns and bearded tits. On the lagoons are avocets, gulls and terns. In autumn and winter, the reserve plays host to 20 species of wading birds and to large numbers of ducks and geese.
4. The RSPB are hosting Titchwell Marsh Coastal Change Project Information Days where you can meet and talk to RSPB staff and volunteers involved in the project.
Information days will be taking place on:
Friday 19th September at Brancaster village hall, 1pm-7pm
Sunday 21st September at Titchwell Marsh nature reserve, 11am-7pm
Monday 22nd September at Thornham village hall, 2.30pm-7pm
Images:
Titchwell aerial view 2005 - RSPB (rspb-images.com)
Bittern - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Avocet - Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
0 comments:
Post a Comment