CLM20-2 full issue-1 - Flipbook - Page 10
Saltmarsh restoration through flash re-creation
Sea spurrey dominates the drawdown zones of some restored flashes (left), providing an abundance of
food for waterfowl (here mainly wigeon, teal and gadwall) when high tides fill the depressions (right).
Bart Donato
had the desired effect of stopping tidal water and
rainwater from escaping the saltmarsh through
the farmland drains and into the estuary. A large
lagoon formed in the upper saltmarsh basin
between a raised area of beach and the start of
the next level of saltmarsh. Within the first year,
where nothing had nested before, black-headed
gulls started a breeding colony. Following a few
years of adjustment, including increasing the
width of the dams by using diggers, this pool
continues to offer valuable habitat for breeding
and overwintering birds.
A Countryside Stewardship scheme, which
started in 2019, provided sufficient funding to
identify other places where restoration could
achieve similar outcomes. The main area selected
was in the upper saltmarsh to the west of the
pool created in 1996, and the work, carried out
during the winter of 2019 and 2020, involved
damming two parallel drains mechanically with
material taken from onsite. This floods regularly in
the winter during high tides, so any groundwork
needed to be able to withstand tidal flooding events.
The main drains coming from farmland were left to
flow freely and only the water from the saltmarsh
was held back. Elsewhere, it has been shown that
trampling by livestock can be detrimental to nesting
redshank success (Sharps et al. 2017). In order
to combat this at Campfield Marsh, a temporary
electric exclusion fence has been erected during
the breeding season (installed in April after the last
spring tide). This has been done every year since the
works were completed, in 2020.
The area now holds water for most of the year,
barring major drought events. Coupled with the
exclusion fence, this has resulted in an increase
in breeding-wader numbers within a year of the
project being completed, with redshank rising
from one to three pairs. Longer term there may
be additional work required if any of the dams
are damaged by storms or tidal events, but
the project overall was relatively cost effective
and cheap in terms of labour, and subsequent
maintenance will be minimal.
Outcomes
The restored flashes have established rapidly and
areas of surface water remain on the marsh for
weeks after large tides. During the winter these
flashes effectively become a permanent feature,
holding water from one cycle of spring tides until
the next, topped up periodically by rainfall. In
8 Conservation Land Management Summer 2022 | Vol. 20 No. 2
