Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the protection and restoration of saltmarsh habitats.

HM Government has a clear, long-standing ambition to implement measures that protect the marine environment, both internationally and domestically. England already has 40% of its waters in Marine Protected Areas, covering the majority of saltmarsh habitats. Our focus is now on ensuring these are effectively protected.

The Environment Agency’s (EA) Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore our estuarine and coastal habitats to benefit people and nature. The EA’s restoration handbooks are a key tool to support restoration of coastal blue carbon habitats in the UK and beyond. They offer clear practical guidance on restoration best practice, including for saltmarshes, and were produced through collaboration between Government bodies, NGOs and academics. They provide a tool to support local authorities, community partnerships and environmental organisations to restore blue carbon habitats.

Natural England and the EA are also producing a national database/inventory of opportunities for restoration of coastal habitats including saltmarsh. This will signpost developers seeking to fulfil obligations under the planning system.

We are supporting direct investment into saltmarsh restoration through our £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund, which is supporting nature recovery projects across England. Through our Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund, we are supporting three projects with almost £300k of grants to measure and verify the carbon storage potential in saltmarsh habitats, which will help leverage private investment into these important habitats.

The public consultation on the next round of Flood Risk Management Plans (2021-2027) closed earlier this year. The proposed plans include provision for natural flood management approaches which will protect saltmarsh and also protect communities.