The programme is working to reconnect the currently fragmented and damaged seascape of the Greater Thames Estuary through habitat protection, repair and restoration.
By working in partnership with environmental charities, county councils, landowners, academic institutions and government bodies, the aim is to create larger, more strategic and longer-lasting environmental improvements.
Restoring coastal habitats
For this first phase of work, $5 million has been secured from the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme (ELSP), managed by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative in partnership with Arcadia.
Over the course of the five-year programme, the partnership aims to restore more than 320 hectares of intertidal seagrass meadows, saltmarsh, native oyster reef, coastal grazing marsh, sand and shingle, and saline lagoon habitat.
Blacketts and Banks Farm
The habitat enhancement works at Blacketts and Banks Farm form part of the Coastal Grazing Marsh Project, delivered by the RSPB across Kent and Essex.
The project focuses on improving water management and habitat conditions to support breeding wading birds and wintering wildfowl, including species such as Lapwing and Redshank.
Improving conditions for breeding waders
Works on the estate include:
- Rewetting areas of marshland
- Creating and improving rills and bunding
- Installing solar pumps
- Improving water control across the site
- Introducing grazing management through sheep and cattle
These interventions are designed to improve habitat resilience and maintain the wetland conditions required to support wildlife, particularly during increasingly hot and dry summers.
Go back