DEFRA Scheme salt-marsh Agreement

In purchasing Orford Ness from the Ministry of Defence in 1993, the National Trust inherited a number of river defences that had suffered neglect over many years and consequently were in a very poor condition. In one area of the site, upper Lantern Marsh, the walls were particularly poor being very badly eroded and weakened and consequently likely to breach in the short term.

©National Trust
Views over the Habitat Scheme area - late 1999

The condition of the walls in upper Lantern Marsh has been the subject of a number of studies carried out by specialist consultants under contract to the National Trust. The studies identified the principal options for the most effective management techniques for the site. Based on these reports, local consultation and consideration of recommendations from recent Shoreline and Estuary Management Strategies produced by the maritime Local Authority and the EA, the Trust entered the area of upper Lantern Marsh (approx. 37ha) into a Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) Habitat Scheme salt-marsh Agreement.

©National Trust
View of breach from the river at low tide. Summer 2000

The agreement started in September 1999 with the aim of creating salt-marsh habitat by allowing the area to inundate in a managed way. Reinstatement of the wall was not considered a viable option from both practical and financial standpoints.