The Environment Agency will be monitoring an Essex saltmarsh as
part of a new UK-wide research project.
The new project has seen the installation of a flux tower on a
saltmarsh at Abbotts Hall in the Blackwater Estuary in Essex in
partnership with the Essex Wildlife Trust.
The EA has worked in partnership with the UK Centre for Ecology
& Hydrology (UKCEH) to purchase and install four flux towers
on saltmarshes across England. This has been funded by the Defra
marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA)
programme.
Saltmarshes are important ecosystems that provide many valuable
services, including habitat for a wide range of creatures. They
also act as natural flood defences and help to capture CO2 from
the atmosphere to store it in sediments. It is estimated that 85%
of UK saltmarsh has been lost since the mid-19th Century.
However, although we know these ecosystems are valuable, there is
a lack of data on how saltmarshes capture and store carbon. The
tower at Abbotts Hall is providing long-term, real-time, data
that can help our understanding of how saltmarshes function as
carbon sinks now and in the future. Similar towers have
previously been used on other types of habitats such as forests
and peat bogs. Networks of these towers have provided vital data
which has helped to encourage restoration and investment in these
ecosystems.
The Environment Agency and UKCEH scientists, in partnership with
the RSPB, have installed another two towers in Lincolnshire. A
further tower will be added in the future. Additionally, two
other towers were installed last year in the Ribble Estuary by
Natural England and WWF. In total, these six towers will provide
the first in depth look into greenhouse gas storage and emissions
in saltmarshes in England. Once the value of these ecosystems has
been quantified, we hope this will lead to increased conservation
and restoration of saltmarshes.
Dr Ben Green, Senior Advisor in Estuaries and Coasts Planning,
for the Environment Agency said: “These flux towers will improve
our understanding of the ability of saltmarsh habitats to
sequester carbon across tides, days, seasons and years. The
evidence they will provide will be key to support the further
restoration of saltmarshes, and for the inclusion of these
habitats on the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory”.
Dr Ross Morrison, Biometeorologist at UKCEH, added: “Thanks to
our new network of coastal flux towers, we'll provide the first
directly measured carbon budgets for a range of different
saltmarsh systems across the country by the end of this year,
improving our knowledge on how they might help us transition
towards our net zero goals. Equally, the flux towers will help us
understand how the processes in coastal environments function
today, and how things may change into the future.”
UKCEH is leading a consortium across charity, finance and
academic sectors to develop and pilot a UK
Saltmarsh Carbon Code. This rigorous and scientifically-based
voluntary certification standard will enable saltmarsh carbon to
be confidently purchased, thus providing an income stream for
restoration projects and supporting the achievement of national
Net Zero goals.
Rachel Langley, Head of Marine and Coastal Recovery for Essex
Wildlife Trust, said: “Saltmarshes epitomise the Essex coast and
support a huge range of wildlife from tiny insects to fish in the
creeks and birds roosting and feeding on the marsh. They also
support our coastal communities by acting as natural flood
defences, and capture and store CO2. The historic loss of
saltmarshes and the current degraded state of many highlights the
urgency of recovering these important and iconic habitats. Essex
Wildlife Trust is pleased to work in partnership with the
Environment Agency to fill key evidence gaps to support the
further restoration of saltmarshes.”
