From Britain’s shores, our nation has seen lifetimes of industry, piracy, invasion and recreation.
© NTPL / Rod Edwards
Our seas have launched fleets, received kings and entertained generations of children. In fact, our island’s identity is so bound with the sea, that our coastline is as much a part of our heritage as Stonehenge or our stately homes. What’s more, the enjoyment and sense of wellbeing we experience from being by the sea is a pleasure that cannot be replicated.
Yet our coastline is changing every day. Climate change, rising sea levels and the effects of coastal change are taking their toll at an increasing rate. So how can we continue to keep the unique essence of our coastlines alive – for our generation and those that follow us? That is the challenge for the Neptune Coastline Campaign, and we need your help to meet it.
We need to implement new ways of working with nature, to anticipate climate change and manage coastal change.
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Our work so far
Acquiring areas of our coast that are at risk is still crucial to the Neptune Coastline Campaign. Yet we also need to manage our coastline in a sympathetic and sustainable way, to allow inevitable changes to take place gradually. By using natural ways of dealing with rising sea levels, we can continue to have access to a rich and diverse coastline – now, and for years to come.
The Neptune Coastline Campaign has been active in implementing various creative approaches to managing coastal change. South Milton Sands is one such recent example. The results from this Neptune project have created a harmonious sense of nature evolving, and inspired an enthusiastic response from locals and visitors. However, all such projects require time, expertise, and funding.
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A long way to go
All 710 miles of National Trust coastline require in depth management, at enormous expense.
The focus for Neptune now hangs on the maintenance of every mile in our care. In addition to the vast commitment to ongoing management, there are currently 40 sites identified for urgent coastal adaptation. We need to assess each site individually; judge how we can best work with natural processes to achieve long-term sustainable approaches to managing coastal change; consider how to encourage wildlife and natural habitat; anticipate coastal pressure points and look into possible acquisition of surrounding land and coastline; all the while sensitively working with local communities.
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© NTPL / Joe Cornish
Donate today
You can be a part of Neptune’s exciting onward journey. Please, make a donation towards the Neptune Coastal Campaign today.
What your donation can do
£15 could buy 38 marram grass plants to help stabilise natural dune defences £67 could buy a metre of wear-resistant footpath made of recycled plastic £100 could help towards creating new wetland by realigning tidal flow £5,000 could help buy one acre of hinterland to manage a retreating coastline
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