Engineering with Nature: Atlas Volume 3

Posted by James Dunn, Senior Project Manager at the RSPB, August 2024

The Engineering with Nature (EWN): Atlas Volume 3 was published in May 2024 and includes the sand and gravel recharge delivered by the RSPB on Horsey Island and by Mersea Harbour Protection Trust (MHPT) in the Blackwater Estuary, both in partnership with Harwich Haven Authority. This projects are the first Beneficial Use of Dredged Sediment (BUDS) projects in the UK to be included in the atlas which demonstrates the increased interest in the use of BUDS for habitat creation and an increased understanding of the wide range of benefits such schemes can deliver including Flood and Coastal Risk Management and biodiversity benefit. The Atlas showcases a diverse range of international projects that seek to demonstrate the numerous benefits that nature based solutions can provide and can accessed here:- Engineering With Nature An Atlas, Volume 3 - Engineering With Nature 

"The MHPT beach recharge and the recharge at Horsey Island in Hamford Water delivered through the Beneficial Use of Dredged Sediment are exciting schemes that provide multiple benefits not only to nature and wildlife but also to society. Their inclusion in the EWN atlas demonstrates their importance as case studies that provide important lessons for future schemes" Kieren Alexander, Site Manager at RSPB Old Hall Marshes.

The BUDS in the Blackwater Estuary project will seek to replicate and build on the the recharge delivered in the Blackwater Estuary described in the EWN. The new project will deliver sand and shingle recharge on the foreshore at Tollesbury Wick, Old Hall Point and Cobmarsh Island with the aim of protecting coastal flood defences and saltmarsh whilst creating important habitat for beach nesting birds such as amber-listed little tern and ringed plover.