A concerted effort is needed to better protect our coastal communities and economies whilst enhancing our marine environment, said Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell (26 January) as the EA launches its latest ‘State of the Environment: Coast and Marine’ report.

Speaking at the Coastal Future’s Conference, Alan Lovell said that with over a third of the UK population living within 5km of the coastline, more work is needed to ensure the protection, recovery and restoration of our coastal and marine environment, and to enable coastal populations to thrive.

Alan Lovell said:

England’s national story is a story about our relationship with the coast and a century of air travel has not totally eroded our reliance on ports and estuaries to deliver the things we need.

Yet, coastal towns are now among the most deprived in the country. We need to work together with coastal communities to identify the best possible way to keep them safe and prosperous.

We need a concerted effort to better protect coastal communities and economies while enhancing the marine environment.

The report, produced by the EA’s Chief Scientist’s Group, draws attention to the many consequences of climate change, with 85% of England’s salt marshes estimated to have been lost since the 1800s, as well as up to 50% of seagrass meadows and 95% of our native oyster population.

Reflecting on progress, Alan Lovell also said:

Although some progress has been made, there is a great deal more to be done and I hope that what we learn from innovative projects such as these will encourage others to join us and invest in ways that champion coastal resilience and help in the fight against climate change.

The EA’s Restoring Meadow Marsh and Reef initiative is just one of the programmes taking action to tackle climate change, and aims to restore at least 15% of priority estuarine and coastal habitats by 2043.

Further information:

The full news story from the Environment Agency can be read here.

Here is a link to the news story from the Guardian regarding the speech at Coastal Futures.

The Environment Agency’s ‘State of the Environment: Coast and Marine’ report can be found here.

The full speech is available here.