2 new wildlife reserves open in the Humber Estuary

22/11/2007 00:00:00 Two new wildlife reserves have opened on the Humber Estuary. The reserves at Chowder Ness (Next to Far Ings National Nature Reserve) and Welwick have created more than 60 hectares of vital new mudflat habitat on the banks of the Humber, and are crucial for supporting the region’s populations of waders and waterfowl. Chowder Ness Foreshore, in Barton-upon-Humber in North Lincolnshire, and Welwick Foreshore, in East Riding of Yorkshire, have been created by Associated British Ports as part of its commitment to the sustainable development of its ports. These sites together now provide two very important contributions to the environmental wellbeing of the Humber Estuary. Firstly, they will provide vital habitat for the estimated 217,000 birds, such as shelduck, lapwing, golden plover and curlew, that use the Humber Estuary as a ‘filling station’ on their migrations, or as a winter resort, before returning to the Arctic to breed. Alkborough Flatts, another huge reserve, was created on the Humber just a few months ago when several hundred hectares of low lying land were turned into tidal marsh.

Secondly, the creation of new inter-tidal habitat forms a significant contribution to the Environment Agency’s (EA) long-term plans for flood defence on the estuary. The EA’s strategy, which will see a programme of works for managing the Humber’s flood defences over the next 50 years, is being implemented to combat the growing threat of rising sea levels. The sites ABP has developed at Chowder Ness and Welwick represent about 20 per cent of the total number of managed realignment schemes carried out in the UK to date. ABP undertook the £3.5 million project to create Chowder Ness and Welwick Foreshores after drawing up a pioneering agreement with English Nature, the RSPB, the Environment Agency and the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts, committing ABP to mitigate the loss of 31 hectares of mudflats to the building of Immingham Outer Harbour, at the Port of Immingham, and for the soon-to-be-built Hull Riverside Container Terminal at the Port of Hull. This legally binding agreement – the first of its kind to be struck in the UK – has meant that ABP and the environmental organisations did not have to face a lengthy and costly public enquiry.

Peter Barham, ABP’s Sustainable Development Manager, who worked closely with the conservation bodies, said: ‘Chowder Ness and Welwick Foreshores represent a very important step forward for ABP. They signify our commitment to the sustainable development of our ports and show how it is possible to expand our ports and grow our business without harming the environment. It also demonstrates how we work closely with a range of environmental organisations to achieve mutual objectives. We have shown how it is possible to balance the needs of the environment and of business and how the development of one needn’t be to the detriment of the other.’ Dr Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, said: ‘The official opening of Welwick and Chowder Ness Foreshores marks the culmination of much hard work by ABP, with staff of Natural England, the RSPB, the Environment Agency and the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts, and is symbolic of what can be achieved when industry and environmental organisations work together in partnership.

‘The Humber Estuary is of immense importance for both its wildlife and its ports and industries, and Natural England is committed to continuing to work with ABP, and others, on the estuary to ensure that sustainable port development and the estuary’s internationally important wildlife can continue to coexist well into the future.’

Chowder Ness and Welwick Foreshores have been developed on inter-tidal farmland formerly reclaimed from the Humber. The project, co-ordinated by ABP Project Manager John Drew, involved the digging and shaping of new earthwork embankments, away from the old shoreline, and covered with protective stonework. When preparation work on both sites was completed, the existing sea defences were breached to allow the waters of the Humber to flow up to the new banks. Through a process known as ‘accretion’, the ebb and flow of the tide will now leave deposits of sediment at the sites, which, over time, will form new mudflats and, later, saltmarsh.

Dr Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England – the Government’s new environmental body that has brought together English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service – officially opened Chowder Ness and Welwick Foreshores in a ceremony held alongside the mudflats at Chowder Ness. Guests at the event included representatives from a wide range of environmental organisations, including the RSPB, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts and the Humber Industry Nature Conservation Association.