Wetland Reserve Creation
Client: The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
Location: Steart Marshes
Service: Habitat Enhancement
Project Outline:
JPR were delighted to be involved in works at Steart Marshes - one of the largest newly created wetland reserves in the UK.
Image courtesy of The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
Wetland Reserve Creation – Steart Marshes
Rising sea levels are putting the squeeze on our coast, so The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and the Environment Agency have created Steart Marshes – one of the UK’s largest new wetland reserves.
WWT manages the reserve and over the past few years, have employed JPR Environmental to enhance the visitor facilities and enhance the habitat.
Services provided
In 2014, JPR planted more than 12 thousand wetland plants in newly created freshwater ditches and fenced them off to provide protection from grazing geese. More recently, JPR successfully tendered for extensive habitat enhancement works across the site which were funded by the Green Recovery Fund. These works were designed to create priority habitat and provide nature-based solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
JPR undertook works to:
· Increase the diversity of habitats on the reserve with a number of pond/ditch/scrape works
· Improve access to the farmed areas of the reserve by the construction of culverts
· Improve viewing conditions for visitors to the sitelation of water control features
· Improveviewing conditions for visitors to the site
The development of a new saltmarsh is a rare opportunity that JPR were delighted to be involved with. Steart Marshes is home to a vast array of wildlife and it's a place that people love to visit. But as well as that, it's locking away carbon from the atmosphere that would otherwise contribute to climate change.
The tidal creeks that run across Steart Marshes shelter fish fry. The fish attract herons and egrets but they are also from commercially important species such as sea bass. Another feature of the site is that waste water from the public loos goes through a treatment wetland, a more natural way to treat waste and itself creates additional habitats for wildlife
JPR were delighted to be involved in the enhancement works on this important site which was warded National Nature Reserve status in May 2022, became part of the Somerset Wetlands Super NNR and was launched as a dragonfly hotspot with support from the British Dragonfly Society in July 2022.
JPR designs and creates wetlands; from ponds and scrapes, to lakes and large wetland habitation creation projects. At JPR, we create, restore and manage wetlands for the benefit of people and wildlife.
