Species Coastal and Wetlands: More, Bigger, Better, Joined
The UK has lost 90% of its wetlands in the past 100 years. Now covering just 3% of the country, they remain home to one in ten UK species.
On this page
The Species Coastal and Wetlands programme works at landscape-scale in Southeast England to create, enhance, and restore these wetland and coastal habitats. Guided by the Lawton Principles of ‘More, Bigger, Better, Joined’, the programme will benefit a wide range of species, including some of the UK’s most threatened birds. It also works in some of the most deprived wards in East England to enhance nature engagement and offer nature prescriptions.
Sites
Working at more than 10 sites from the Solent to the Norfolk Broads, the programme will undertake the physical construction of islands, the restoration of lagoons, reedbeds and wet grazing meadows, the creation of scrapes and dragonfly ponds, the instillation of footdrains, sluices, culverts and bunds to manage water, the construction of solar pumps, predator exclusion fencing and nesting rafts, the unblocking of ditches, and the restoration of rare vegetated shingle.
The sites have been identified for their richness in wildlife and potential to benefit from targeted actions for multiple species. By restoring wetland habitats along England’s Southeastern coastline, the programme will not only benefit UK bird populations, but the millions of migratory birds which traverse the East Atlantic Flyway every year.
These include birds which are in serious decline like Lapwing and Ringed Plover, as well as those which are making a comeback, like Cranes and Bitterns. The work will also benefit species like Water Vole, which have declined by 90% over recent decades.
Nature is in crisis, and we are in a race against time. With many iconic wetland species such as Redshank having been lost from swathes of their former range, landscape-scale restoration is an urgent priority.
These sites include:
- RSPB Wallasea
- RSPB Vange Marsh
- RSPB Rainham
- RSPB Otmoor
- RSPB Dungeness
- The Hoo Peninsula
Community Work
The programme is not just about physical interventions in the landscape. Working in some of the most deprived wards in East England, it will offer four Get Started in Nature programmes in partnership with The King’s Trust, provide volunteering opportunities, recruit apprentices, and deliver 900 nature prescriptions by February 2026. After all, when people feel they have a stake in nature, they are more likely to give it a home.
Watch this space to find out more about opportunities to get involved with the programme!
Partners & Funders
Species Coastal and Wetlands is a partnership between RSPB, The King's Trust, The Church Commissioners for England, Kent Wildfowling and Conservation Association and private landowners.
The programme is funded by the Government's Species Survival Fund. The Fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency. The Species Survival Fund supports projects which “tackle habitat loss, safeguard our fragile ecosystems, and create and restore nature-rich landscapes”. It has been targeted to deliver against the Government’s legally binding target to stop the decline in species abundance in England by 2030.
The Species Coastal and Wetlands programme successfully applied and was awarded £2,487,752 from the Fund, which makes up 94% of the programme’s funding. The remaining 6% is made up of match funding from partners.
