The Environment Agency will be monitoring 2 Lincolnshire
saltmarshes as part of a new UK-wide research project.
The new project will see the installation of two flux towers on
saltmarshes at RSPB Freiston Shore nature reserve on The Wash
near Boston. One tower will be on a natural saltmarsh and the
other will be on a restored saltmarsh, this project is in
partnership with the RSPB.
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
towers in Lincolnshire will provide 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 Essex Wildlife Trust, have installed another tower in Essex.
A further tower will be added in the future. 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 from 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.
Toby Collett from the RSPB, said: “The Wash estuary and the
saltmarshes here are globally important for wildlife, but they
are also vital for our way of life, whether that's fishing,
protecting communities from flooding or storing carbon.
“We're really excited that Freiston Shore is being used to
understand more about these superpower habitats, and hope that
this will lead to further protection and restoration efforts for
saltmarshes across the UK.”
