When aging infrastructure failed to protect coastal farmland in southwest England from sea level rise, conservationists chose to embrace the flooding and created a new wetland reserve. Mongabay’s Leo Plunkett and Sandy Watt report in a recent Mongabay video that the newly created marsh has brought a host of benefits to the region. The Steart Marshes reserve, between the River Parrett and Bristol Channel, was created in 2014. At the time, critics called it an act of “environmental vandalism” and “a complete and utter waste of money.” Some local farmers said it was “Disney for ducks.” Ducks did gain a sanctuary, along with many other species of rare wildlife. The U.K. has lost more than 80% of its salt marshes in the last century, making the Steart Marshes an important refuge for many birds and aquatic species, Plunkett and Watt report. “I think people forget that this is what it would have looked like hundreds and hundreds of years ago,” Alys Laver, WWT Steart Marshes site manager, tells Mongabay. Salt marshes and coastal wetlands that are at least occasionally inundated in sea water are special habitats, she says. Like any natural marsh, the Steart Marsh provides habitat and food for many species of fish, insects and breeding birds. “Particularly in the winter when we’ve got huge numbers of birds using the reserve,” Sam Wall, WWT Steart Marshes warden, tells the Mongabay team. “We’ve got things like avocet, little ringed plover, oystercatcher, which all nest on the reserve.” He says they…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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