Wanna Argument?

When retreat is the best solution

Faced with a continual fight with rising sea levels to preserve low-lying areas of land, retreat may be the best and in some cases the only solution. Whether land has been used for human habitation or for agricultural purposes, there is a balance to be found between coastal protection and what is known as 'process managed realignment' (PMR).

PMR is really just another way of deciding to make space for water. 'It's going to come in anyway', goes the theory, 'so let's use it imaginatively and gain some benefits from the change.' Where land has been reclaimed in the past and developed for housing, people will have to be re-settled, as in the case of the Mississippi Delta. In other areas, farmland used for centuries can be allowed to return to its earlier state.

In the case of Wallasea Island, on the east coast of Essex, more than 700 hectares of farmland, protected by sea walls for five hundred years, will be allowed to be flooded by the sea, returning them to salt marsh, as they were before the land was drained. Here, the battle against nature is being relaxed, sacrificing wheat growing land for wildlife and leisure activities like walking.

Five hundred years ago, Wallasea was originally separated into five sectors by water. These sectors will be reinstated as the tidal rivers (the Crouch and the Roach) recreate the ancient coastal wetland. A series of raised pathways will allow access to several miles of new coastal walks. It is expected that this area will become a haven for wildlife, attracting huge numbers of birds to feed, shelter and breed.

The project will funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to the tune of £7.5 million and by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) at a cost of £12 million. It will be the largest coastal habitat creation project in Britain. It will result in a vital wildlife and recreation refuge close to Europe's biggest growth area: the Thames Gateway.

Perhaps retreat is the best option? Copyright: Kasia Dymara, from stock.xchng.

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