Page 130 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

128 COASTS AND THE SEASHORE

ATLANTIC OCEAN NORTHEAST comprise the largest single area of this These come to spend the winter in to increase the area of salt marsh in
habitat in Britain and are growing in the Wash in huge numbers, with an the region. This has taken pressure off
The Wash extent. The main plant species making average total of about 300,000 birds, other nearby sea defenses, because the
up these salt marshes, which are from as far away as Greenland and newly establishing area of salt marsh
TYPE traditionally used as grazing lands Siberia. In addition, the Wash is an soaks up wave energy, acting as a
Salt marshes, tidal
sandflats, and mudflats by farmers, are cordgrass and glasswort important breeding area for common natural sea defense. This is a relatively
in roughly equal amounts. terns and a feeding area for marsh novel approach to coastal management
AREA
100 square miles The Wash is one of the most harriers. It has been declared a Special that employs “soft engineering”
(250 square km) important sites in the UK for wild Protection Area (SPA) under EU law. techniques to defend against the erosive
birds, its sheltered tidal flats providing In 2000, parts of the artificial power of the sea. It also has the added
LOCATION Northeast of Peterborough, England, UK a vast feeding ground for migrating coastal defenses on the western side of environmental advantage of providing
birds, such as geese, ducks, and waders. the Wash were deliberately breached additional habitat for wildlife.
The Wash is a large, square-mouthed,
shallow estuary on the eastern coast
of England, surrounded by extensive
areas of tidal sandflats, some mudflats,
and salt marshes. It is fed by four main
rivers: the Great Ouse, Nene, Welland,
and Witham. The sandflats of the Wash
range from extensive fine sands to
drying banks of coarse sand and are
home to large communities of bivalve
mollusks, crustaceans, and polychaete
worms. The extensive salt marshes

TERRINGTON MARSHES
Located close to the mouth of the Nene
River, these marshes form part of the Wash
National Nature Reserve.

HUMAN IMPACT
SALT HARVEST
The Guérande region has had salt
pans for over 1,000 years. Today,
about 300 salt-farmers work in
the area, one of the few places in
France where salt continues to be
EDGE OF THE MARSHES produced in a traditional manual
The dominant plant species in the non- way. The average annual harvest
exploited areas of salt marsh, such as at La is about 10,000 tons of natural,
Turballe in the northern part of the marshes, mineral-rich sea salt, which is sold
include sea-blite, cordgrass, and glasswort. unrefined, with nothing added
and nothing removed. The salt
ATLANTIC OCEAN NORTHEAST for large numbers of birds. The salt channels into the pans, and during has a light gray color because
marshes came to exist in their present
of its content of fine clay from
the warm summer months, when the
OCEAN ENVIRONMENTS LOCATION Northwest of St. Nazaire, Atlantic coast dunes developed thousands of years the salt pans are made up of various
Guérande Salt
rate of evaporation is high, sea salt is
the salt pans.
state through a combination of
skimmed from the surface of the pans
geology, climatic factors, and human
Marshes
by an army of salt-farmers (paludiers).
intervention. Around the coast near
The areas of marsh surrounding
Guérande, a system of spits and coastal
TYPE Salt marshes,
artificial salt pans, and
ago, cutting off an area of shallow
salt-tolerant plants. More than
tidal mudflats
70 different species of birds nest and
water, which was nevertheless subject
AREA 7 square miles
to tides—seawater could flow in
breed in the area, and many species
(50 square km)
spend the winter here in large numbers.
through two inlets in the dune belts.
Over the centuries, marshes and tidal
For many years, the salt-farmers and
the French ornithological society, the
flats developed in this basin. During
of France
the past 1,000 years or so, these have
LPO, have jointly organized exhibitions
been artificially converted into a
The region of salt marshes close to the
and guided tours in the Guérande Salt
mosaic of salt pans, separated by clay
medieval town of Guérande is most
Marshes, which are themed on the
famous for its salt production but is
economics of salt production, the
walls, although some areas remain
unexploited. During the flood tide,
also a noted ecological site, important
ecology of the marshes, and their
seawater is allowed to flow through
need for protection.
for its role as a feeding and resting site