Project part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund)

The Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme


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Kilnsea Wetlands

Impact on ecosystem services

Targeted Ecosystem services
The primary purpose of the Kilnsea Wetlands Habitat Creation Project was to provide habitat with vegetation characteristics and a landscape type to meet the “Favourable conditions status” targets set for the Humber Estuary SPA.

This is linked with ecosystem services ‘landscape maintenance’ and ‘biodiversity’, and also ‘flood water storage’ and ‘dissipation of tidal and river energy’. It also provides ‘opportunities for recreation and tourism’ through becoming a tourist and bird watching attraction.

Table 2: Targeted ecosystem services
Measure
Food: animals  
Water for industrial use  
Water for navigation  
Climate regulation: carbon sequestration  
Regulation extreme events or disturbance: flood water storage X
Regulation extreme events or disturbance: water current reduction  
Regulation extreme events or disturbance: Wave reduction  
Water quantity regulation: drainage of river water  
Water quantity regulation: dissipation of tidal and river energy X
Water quantity regulation: landscape maintenance X
Water quantity regulation: transportation  
Water quality regulation: transport of pollutants and excess nutrients  
Water quality regulation: reduction of excess loads coming from the catchment  
Erosion and sedimentation regulation by water bodies  
Erosion and sedimentation regulation by biological mediation  
"Biodiversity" X
Aesthetic information  
Opportunities for recreation & tourism X
Inspiration for culture, art and design  
Information for cognitive development  


Involved habitats
Intertidal mudflat, saltmarsh and grassland were created as a result of this measure.

Table 3: Ecosystem service analysis for Kilnsea wetlands: Indication of habitat surface and quality change, i.e. situation before versus after measure implementation
MEASURE before After
    surface (%) Quality (1-5) surface (%) quality (1-5)
Marsh habitat above mean high water, floods at
spring tide
0 0 25 3
Intertidal steep habitat floods every tide, mainly steep
zones at marsh edges
0 0 32 3
Intertidal flat habitat floods every tide, flat zones 0 0 0 0
Subtidal shallow habitat never surfaces, less deep than 2m 0 0 0 0
Subtidal moderately deep habitat never surfaces, 2m-5m 0 0 0 0
Subtidal deep habitat never surfaces, deeper than 5m 0 0 0 0
ADJACENT LAND NON FLOODED LAND 100 3 43 3
    100   100  

Quality
1 = very high quality
2 = high quality
3 = medium quality
4 = low quality
5 = very low quality

The measure Beacon Lagoons in the polyhaline zone of the Humber estuary was about the creation of intertidal habitat by transforming a part of the adjacent land into marshland and intertidal steep habitat with a moderately high change in the habitat quality.



From the ES assessment it is concluded that this measure generates overall a slightly positive expected impact for many ES, mainly for:
  • “biodiversity”
  • Cultural services
  • Some regulating services: Erosion and sedimentation regulation (by water bodies); Water quality regulation: reduction of excess loads coming from the catchment; Erosion and sedimentation regulation by biological mediation; Climate regulation: Carbon sequestration and burial; Regulation extreme events or disturbance: Wave reduction.
The expected impact for the development target “biodiversity” is slightly positive.
The expected impact for the different beneficiary groups is slightly positive for indirect and future use and for local and region use.


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Reports / Measures / Tools

Report: Management measures analysis and comparison