Restoring coastal grazing marsh from arable land, North Kent

The Agricultural Environment Scheme (which encompasses the Environmentally Sensitive Areas ESA) administered by the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs has been used in North Kent to restore coastal grazing marsh. Here areas of traditionally managed grazing marsh was drained, leveled and converted to arable use in the 1960s along with losses in many other similar areas. Payments through the ESA scheme facilitate the restoration of land to coastal grazing marsh. Payments will be continued for a period of ten years.

At one site the process involved a sequence of steps:

• Year 1 - Cessation of arable cultivation and sowing of a grass seeds mixture (the mix was chosen to mimic the species found in coastal grazing marsh);
• Year 2 - The resulting grassland was mown and any weed species killed with herbicide;
• Year 3 - Cattle and sheep were introduced.

The site was also altered physically:

• Ditches were reprofiled to a shallower gradient;
• Water levels were maintained at higher elevations;
• Landscape features were reinstated.

Comment: The overall approach involved undertaking simple, practical steps. After 3-4 years a respectable breeding bird population had become established. An important key to success was the scheme fitted with the existing land managers objectives and was financially viable. Details of the ESA areas and schemes including the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (North Kent Marshes) are available from the DEFRA web site http://www.defra.gov.uk/ . A document providing '"Guidelines for Farmers" for the North Kent ESA provides a useful summary of the aims and methods can be downloaded from the DEFRA web site @ http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/regulat/forms/erdp/esa/nkesaguide.pdf.