The NRA maintains four hundred and forty kilometres of sea walls in Essex. Sixty per cent of these flood defences are fronted by saltmarsh, a natural wetland habitat that helps maintain the defences' integrity. As the saltings of Essex continue to erode the value of them as soft defences becomes increasingly apparent. The Essex Local Flood Defence Committee (LFDC) formally recognised the need to manage saltmarshes effectively in 1986, and implemented a programme of research and development that continues today. The Essex Saltmarsh Research Programme provides a practical example of integrated coastal management. It has provided new techniques for managing flood defence in Essex and developed policy towards saltmarshes.

  • INTRODUCTION

  • BACKGROUND

  • THE ESSEX SALTMARSH RESEARCH PROGRAMME

  • EXPERIMENTAL WORKS

  • FLOOD DEFENCE MANAGEMENT

  • CONCLUSIONS

  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  • REFERENCES

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