Case Study - Hurst Spit to Lymington Marshes
Hurst Spit (site 2) is a 2km long, artificially
maintained, partially vegetated shingle barrier. It protects areas of
saltmarsh and intertidal mudflats on its landward side. There are
coastal grazing marshes and saline lagoons behind seawalls at
Pennington in areas previously reclaimed from the sea.
These habitats are important for wildlife and biodiversity and the area
is designated as a Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and a Site of
Special Scientific Interest. Additionally, the intertidal areas are a
candidate Special Area of Conservation.
Historically, the saltmarsh in this area has been receding at a rate of
3m to 6m a year. Modelling undertaken for the BRANCH project has shown
that by the 2080s, assuming that current defences are maintained,
saltmarsh will be completely lost between Hurst and Lymington under all
the climate change scenarios.
Managed realignment is often recognised as a management strategy to
create intertidal habitats behind the sea defences. At this site, if
the defences were realigned, land levels are too low relative to the
tides for large areas of saltmarsh to become established. Realignment
would, therefore, not compensate for the expected loss of saltmarshes
locally. Designated coastal grazing marsh and saline lagoons would also
be lost. Managed realignment would not be suitable in some parts of the
study area due to the location of a landfill site and the town of
Lymington.
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