3 C’s Project – CLEARcoasts Project in the Cumbrian Solway
3Cs CLEARcoasts Project
Background
The Solway Firth is a large and dynamic estuary that joins Dumfries and Galloway, in Scotland, to Cumbria, in England. Its vast and wild landscape is home to a mosaic of habitats, history and heritage. The coastal landscape has been characterised by a long history of agriculture, with large areas of traditionally-grazed saltmarsh. The saltmarshes, sand dunes, sand and mudflats support high levels of biodiversity including great numbers of internationally important bird species and commercially important fish and shellfish populations. This report describes a baseline assessment of the natural capital assets of the Cumbrian Solway Firth and reviews the potential opportunities for enhancing or restoring the ecosystem services provided by these assets to ensure the long-term provision of valuable benefits. Throughout the report, the Solway being referred to is the Cumbrian Solway, unless the Scottish side is specifically indicated.
On the English side of the Solway Firth, key natural capital assets include, saltmarshes, sand dunes and biogenic reefs. There are also vast areas of sublittoral sand and mud habitats. These assets provide valuable benefits from climate change mitigation through the sequestration and storage of carbon, to alleviating flood and erosion risk by stabilising sediments and attenuating wave and tidal energy. They also form habitats, increasing biodiversity and maintaining nursery populations of important fish and shellfish species. They play a role in regulating water quality and provide opportunities for wildlife watching, walking and other recreational activities that improve human wellbeing.
The natural capital approach takes into consideration the value of the natural environment for society and the economy. To understand the value of natural capital assets, it is important to have knowledge of the spatial extent, condition and location of the assets as well as the different pressures that act on them. This information will help to inform priorities for restoration of key ecosystems, habitats or species populations.
To read the summary report visit the webpage or click here
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CLEARcoasts Project
The CLEARcoasts Project focuses on the Cumbrian Solway Firth. Large areas of the coast here have already been designated as potential sites for saltmarsh and seagrass restoration. This project brings together key public and private sector groups in the area to progress coordination and enhancement of coastal habitat restoration and work for restoration to become reality. The Cumbrian Solway Firth is an ideal case study for rolling out large-scale restoration practice for coastal sustainability and resilience across England.
Phase 1 (Jan 2023 – Mar 2023): Solway Firth Partnership (SFP) was successful in securing funding from the EAs Championing Coastal Coordination Fund to carry out the first phase of the CLEARCoasts Project. See the CLEARCoasts Project Report March 2023 for full details but in summary, outputs included:
• Inviting key stakeholders to join a focus group on coastal restoration in the Solway Firth.
• Conducting a scoping visit with the focus group to key areas for fieldwork and training activities.
• Purchasing field equipment for the next phase of the project.
Phase 2 (October 2023 to March 2024): SFP successfully secured funding from EAs 3Cs Fund to carry out the second phase of the CLEARCoasts Project. Through a series of fieldwork and workshop activities the following objectives were set for the project:
• Training and equipping coastal champions to monitor intertidal environments using innovative and low-cost hydrodynamic sensors and a customised App.
• Developing predictions on the optimal environmental conditions suited to each priority coastal habitat in the Solway Firth e.g. classifying geomorphic health of saltmarshes to allow planning in advance for areas that might erode or expand in the future.
• Carrying out habitat classification of honeycomb worm reefs to increase local knowledge.
• Bringing together local stakeholder groups to identify common pathways to shape local coastal restoration policy and provide an opportunity to gain a sense of wellbeing and connection with the coast, accounting for environmental, social, and economical priorities.
• Establishing a citizen science led programme to create long-term guardianship of local coastal habitats and to assess their value as nature-based solutions including coastal flood protection and carbon sequestration. Test sites will be identified by Mini Buoy research.
The full CLEARcoasts Project Phase 2 April 2024 report is available to download.
Phase 3 (October 2024 to March 2025) marked a significant transition from preparatory work to practical restoration delivery, applying informed interventions guided by hydrodynamic data and local insights. Activities included:
• Securing consent / landowner permissions for extended monitoring and restoration trials on coastal areas around the Cumbrian Solway Firth.
• Continuing to deploy sensor arrays adjacent to priority habitat species to identify optimal conditions for growth and refine understanding of site-specific conditions for restoration.
• Identifying and supporting coastal champions to take part in saltmarsh restoration pilot and contribute to long-term citizen-led monitoring.
• Holding practical workshops for citizen scientists in coastal restoration techniques and monitoring methods.
Restoration trials were launched using BESE-elements® restoration matting. Pilot sites included Anthorn, Cardurnock, and Campfield Marshes, selected for their contrasting rates of lateral change and hydrodynamics. The full Report CLEARcoasts Project April 2025 is available to download.
Funding has been allocated through the WEIF (Water Environment Improvement Fund) to upscale the project through to Phase 4. A future report will document practical outputs achieved to date, with an analytical summary of Mini Buoy datasets and long-term monitoring of BESE-elements®.
