National Habitat Creation Programme Challenges and opportunities – delivering coastal squeeze compensation habitat in partnership Dr Richard Park PhD BSc CBiol FSB NHCP Manager Flood & Operational Risk Management Cwm Ivy Marsh – National Trust/Natural Resources Wales managed retreat project
• Responsible for leading on the National Habitat Creation Programme (NHCP) • Delivering compensation habitat creation – in partnership with authorities/organisations who share responsibilities for coastal squeeze • Targets identified within the Shoreline Management Plans
Compensatory measures are a must-have! • Coastal protection plans – offset negative effects • Maintain ecological coherence of the Natura 2000 network • Mitigate for hydro-morphological pressures in HMWBs • Offset adverse effects of sea level rise • Coastal Squeeze: “squeezing” habitats against hard surfaces maintained in the Shoreline Management Plans (SMP2’s) - HTLs
Compensate for coastal squeeze and adverse effects of sea level rise Habitat Regulation Appraisals (HRA) of SMPs: • Sea Level Predictions - UKCP09 (medium emission projection 95 th %ile • ~ 50-80cm rise over 100yrs (2105) (BUT 93cm-1.9m plausible!)
The Scale of the Challenge Coastal Squeeze Intertidal Losses (Ha) - Wales Designated site name By 2025 By 2055 By 2105 Total Severn Estuary SAC/SPA * 5737 * 679 1388 3670 Burry Inlet/Carmarthen Bay SAC/SPA 59 163 411 633 Pembrokeshire Marine SAC 2 4 5 11 Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau SAC 40 150 111 301 Anglesey Coast Saltmarsh SAC 1 4 11 16 Menai Strait and Conwy Bay SAC 3 12 1 16 Dee Estuary SPA 0 140 454 594 Total 784 1861 4663 7310 Severn Estuary SAC/SPA* = 1/3 in Wales
Scale of loss vs opportunities in SMP2 Relative Losses SMP2 Policies HTL NAI MR Revised Losses
Coastal Assets – the scale of relative compensation requirements Carmarthen Bay SAC – HTL No of Length Owner/Maintainer Assets (m) % NRW 7 6715.4 37.9 Local Authority 7 1880.9 10.6 Private 15 9144.7 51.5 Lleyn Peninsula & Sarnau SAC – HTL No of Length Owner/ Maintainer Assets (km) % NRW 9 7.9 32.2 Local Authority 22 12.6 51.4 Private 5 4.0 16.4
Cwm Ivy Marsh - 39 hectares Carmarthen Bay & Estuaries SAC
Cwm Ivy Marsh Compensation Habitat Creation for Carmarthen Bay SAC • £43K/Ha • £1.7M capital scheme • SSSI • Partnership with National Trust • Managing coastal path issues - underway • Project Appraisal Review (PAR) – underway • 2017/18 – completion (subject to permissions)
Setting the scene for further compensation habitat creation schemes in: • Carmarthen Bay SAC • Anglesey Saltmarsh SAC • Menai Strait Conwy Bay SAC • Lleyn Peninsula & Sarnau SAC • Pembrokeshire SAC • Dee SAC • Severn Estuary SAC
Conclusions • Compensation requirements are large • Risks are infraction (WG), capital and reputational • Habitat creation is tricky & costly ! • NRW - good progress across the Natura 2000 series • NHCP is an opportunity to work more effectively to create N2K habitat ahead of SLR • NRW is working towards partnership delivery of the NHCP Q: Partnership approach to compensation? vs. Q: LA reactive/project based approach?
Diolch am wrando Thank you for listening
Cwm Ivy Marsh Any questions? Cwm Ivy Marsh
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