Archived press release

Sea level rise threatens top seaside wildlife areas

26 July 1997

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY:FRIENDS OF THE EARTH LOCAL GROUPS WILL BE INVOLVED IN ACTIONS ALONG THE SOUTH COAST ON SATURDAY 26 JULY HIGHLIGHTING THE PROBLEMS OF SEA LEVEL RISE CAUSED BY GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS

Over sixty of Britain's top wildlife sites are under threat from rising sea levels caused by climate change according to a report from Friends of the Earth [1] published today(26/7/97). As thousands of families head for the coast on the first weekend of the school holidays, 62 low-lying Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are under threat of permanent flooding as global climate change makes sea levels rise by up to a metre [2].
The threatened sites are identified in Appendix A attached.

Sea level rise also threatens farmland, homes, industry and the economy - the South Coast, for example, is highly developed. Future generations face the prospect of ever increasing bills to protect towns and villages while wildlife sites will be squeezed between coastal defences and the rising sea [3].

Matt Phillips, wildlife campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

"Visitors who like to be beside the seaside should enjoy our marvellous coast while they can. Unless we reduce our use of fossil fuels and save energy we are condemning our coast to becoming a grey line of concrete sea walls, where people are increasingly under threat of having the sea lapping at their doors and our coastal wildlife has been wiped out.

To support the launch of the report and highlight the problems of sea level rise, several Friends of the Earth local groups are conducting actions along the South Coast on 26 July to raise awareness amongst local communities of the threats that sea level rise poses [4].

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] Friends of the Earth. (1997). Going Under? UK Coastal Habitats Threatened by Sea Level Rise. Friends of the Earth, London. The report is available on request. The sites under threat are listed in appendix 1.

[2] Climate Change Impacts Review Group. (1996). Review of the Potential Effects of Climate Change in the United Kingdom. DOE, London.

[3] 31% of the coastline of England and Wales is developed, while 40% of the UK's manufacturing industry is located on the coast. 57% of our most productive agricultural land lies below the 5m contour line.

[4] Shepway Friends of the Earth will be parading a boat along the High Street of Hythe at 11am (starting at the Town Hall). Hythe is just a metre above sea level. The boat will be stopped by a house on the high street where a line has been painted to indicate the future sea level.

Eastbourne, Hastings and Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth groups will be at the pier and bandstand of the lower prom at Eastbourne at 10am. They will be dressed in scuba gear to indicate that much of Eastbourne's coast will be under the sea in 100 years time. They will also be handing out maps indicating what the coast will look like.

Manhood Peninsula and Chichester Friends of the Earth local groups will be at East Head, West Wittering at 11AM. They will be pointing out the threat to the beach from car driving which leads to emmissions of greenhouse gases. The site is close to the beach where King Canute was supposed to have demonstrated the folly of trying to hold back the sea..

Gosport and Fareham Friends of the Earth local groups will take a boat into the centre of Gosport.

Avon
Severn estuary

Cheshire
Dee estuary
Mersey estuary

Clywd
Dee estuary

Cumbria
Drigg coast
Duddon estuary
Morecambe Bay
South Walney and Piel Channel flats
Upper Solway flats and marshes

Devon
Exe estuary

Dorset
Poole harbour

Dyfed
Burry inlet and Loughor estuary
Dyfi

East Sussex
Camber Sands and Rye Saltings
Pevensey Levels
Rye harbour

Essex
Benfleet and Southend marshes
Blackwater estuary
Colne estuary
Dengie
Foulness
Hamford Water
Inner Thames marshes
River Crouch marshes
Stour estuary
West Thurrock lagoon and marshes

Gwent
Severn estuary

Gwynedd
Dyfi

Gloucestershire
Severn estuary
Upper Severn estuary

Hampshire
Langstone harbour
Portsmouth harbour

Humberside
Barton and Barrow clay pits
Pyewipe and Cleethorpes coast
Spurnhead to Salt Flat Ends
Upper Humber
The Grues

Kent
Dungeness
Medway estuary and marshes
Sandwich Bay and Hacklinge marshes
South Thames estuary and marshes
Thanet Coast
The Swale
Walland marsh

Lancashire
Lune estuary
Morecambe Bay
Ribble estuary

Lincolnshire
Gibraltar Point
North Linconshire coast
Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe dunes
The Wash

Merseyside
Ainsdale sand dunes
Altcar sand dunes and foreshore
Dee estuary
Formby sand dunes and foreshore
Mersey estuary
Southport sand dunes and foreshore

Norfolk
Breydon Water
North Norfolk coast
The Wash

Northumberland
Lindisfarne
Northumberland shore

Powys
Dyfi

Suffolk
Alde-Ore estuary
Benacre to Easton Bavents
Deben estuary
Minsmere-Walberswick heaths and marshes
Orwell estuary

Somerset
Bridgewater Bay
Severn estuary

West Glamorgan
Burry inlet and Loughor estuary

West Sussex
Chichester harbour
Pagham harbour

South Glamorgan
Severn estuary

Tyne & Wear
Northumberland shore

[Index]

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