The Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Coastal squeeze project, titled ‘Understanding the likely scale of deterioration of Marine Protected Area features due to coastal squeeze’ aims to improve the understanding of the location, timing and likely scale of habitat loss occurring on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) due to Coastal Squeeze.
The Project has been funded by Welsh Government’s Nature Networks Programme.
Rising sea-levels (predicted to be approximately 0.8 – 1.5 m by 2120) are expected to put pressure on intertidal and coastal zones, and will have implications for both marine and terrestrial protected areas. Marine habitats will, in particular, be affected by coastal squeeze. This is a process where intertidal habitats are squeezed between rising sea-levels and fixed coastal structures, primarily leading to loss of habitat extent. So this impact will tend to arise where we have both Marine Protected Areas and coastal structures, where the intention is to continue to maintain these structures into the future (Shoreline Management Plan policy of ‘Hold the Line’).
The study identifies additional coastal squeeze pressures on our MPA network which will need consideration in order to secure favourable condition of our protected areas and a resilient marine and coastal environment. This project provides the evidence to inform discussion on how to tackle this issue. The project report will be shared prior to the webinar.
The outputs of the project can be accessed below: