MORE than 60 acres of nature reserve on the Suffolk coast are to be abandoned to the North Sea.

The Environment Agency will on Friday reveal plans to “withdraw maintenance” from an earth bank which protects part of the internationally important Minsmere nature reserve, between Dunwich and Sizewell. (more…)

According to a press release, the RSPB has been forced to take radical action to save one of its best-loved reserves from the sea. To stave off catastrophe it has decided it must allow the sea to reclaim part of the reserve in order to save the rest.

Under the scheme, the sea wall will be moved back behind the present brackish marsh, which will be allowed to return to tidal saltmarsh. This will allow new and improved sea defences to protect the fresh water marsh and the reedbeds with their precious breeding bitterns from the rising tides. (more…)