Coastal habitats along the Greater Thames Estuary – one of the world’s most famous waterways and the life source of London – are about to undergo a five-million-dollar restoration project to provide vital spaces for wildlife and healthier environments for people.

Led by a team of conservationists at the Zoological Society of London, the new Transforming the Thames collaboration brings together conservationists, local communities, government bodies, and landowners – including those from the RSPB, Essex and Kent Wildlife Trusts, and the Environment Agency – with the goal of reviving the Greater Thames Estuary.

The project will go to support both the wildlife that calls it home and the eight million people that will benefit from improved access to nature and better protection from the impacts of climate change.

The grant – worth almost four-million-pounds in British sterling – has been awarded by the Endangered Landscape and Seascape Programme and will enable to team to kick off the first four years of a ‘pioneering mission’ to restore key habitats across the estuary, tackle the biggest threats destroying existing habitats, and empower others  – both individuals and businesses – to scale up transformation across the region.

Anna Cucknell, Zoological Society of London’s UK Coastal Habitat Recovery Programme Manager, said: “Spanning an impressive 250,000 hectares from Felixstowe in the north to Whitstable in the south, the Greater Thames Estuary marks where the River Thames meets the North Sea, and is one of Europe’s most important wetlands.

“This intricate tapestry of habitats provides a home and nursery grounds to an abundance of native wildlife, from Critically Endangered European eels and ‘superhero’ water filtering oysters, to much beloved species like porpoises, seahorses, and lapwings.”

Decades of degradation and fragmentation from disturbances like building works, pollution, overfishing, and climate change have all contributed to the poor state in which the estuary finds itself today. The project therefore sets out with the hope of uniting people across the region to revive the landscape and restore it to the glory of decades passed.    

To do all this, the project will focus on restoring six vital habitats found across the estuary: native oyster beds, seagrass meadows, saltmarshes, coastal grazing marsh, saline lagoons, and sand and shingle bird nesting habitat.

Since the 1800s, the Thames has lost over 95% of native oysters and up to 44% of its seagrass since 1936. Essex meanwhile, a UK county through which the Thames estuary flows, has lost 92% of its coastal grazing marsh in the 40 years between 1938 and 1981, removing the ‘very foundations that native wildlife relies upon.’

By restoring these habitats and rebuilding healthy, resilient ecosystems throughout the estuary, the work will also help reduce flooding and coastal erosion, improve water quality, and capture carbon. In doing so, it will simultaneously help tackle climate change and lessen its impacts on local communities.

“The Thames can recover, but it needs our help,” said Cucknell. “The Zoological Society of London has been working in the area for over 20 years, so we’re delighted that this funding allows the coalition to take restoring the Thames to the next level and really scale up what we can achieve together.”

The work will include planting seagrass to recover these biodiversity-boosting underwater meadows; restoring marshes that provide a home and breeding grounds for birds such as sandpipers, geese, and lapwings; and map pollution sources to tackle poor water quality throughout the estuary.

Alan Johnson, RSPB South East Regional Manager, said: “The Thames Estuary is an amazing place for wildlife and rightly recognised as internationally important. We’re really excited to be working with the Zoological Society of London on the project which will bring together a broad range of partners for the first time, all with the interests of the Estuary at heart.

“We will be creating large areas of new wetland habitat as part of this project, creating space for important species such as redshank and lapwing. I’m feeling really optimistic about the future of the Thames.”

It further hoped that by recovering these ecosystems so close to London while helping to restore the cultural, social, and economic benefits they bring, the project will set an example for other major cities in the UK and around the world as to what can be achieved for people and nature.

Rachel Langley, head of marine and coastal recovery at the Essex Wildlife Trust, said: “Essex’s coastline is iconic, varied, and special – from moody marshes teeming with wildlife, to characterful towns built from their coastal heritage.

“This is the first time these multiple coastal habitats will be recovered under one umbrella partnership; and it is this collaboration and our joint ambition that will enable us to scale up restoration and connect our valuable coastal habitats to enable our coastal wildlife to thrive.”

The project is a partnership between 19 organisations working in the Thames, including the Crown Estate, the Environment Agency, Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust, Natural England, Project Seagrass, the RSPB, the University of Essex, Zoological Society of London, and many others.

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