New estuary management plan discussed at university

NEW ways of managing the Humber estuary for the benefit of industry, local communities and the environment will be discussed at a meeting in Hull next week.

Hull University’s Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies is hosting the four-day event, from Tuesday, as part of TiDE, an EU-funded research initiative that is examining strategies and techniques for managing estuaries in Britain. Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Institute director, Professor Mike Elliott, said: “The TiDE meeting is bringing together some of Europe’s leading experts on estuarine science with port authorities and environmental agencies.

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“The aim is to create new tools for managing estuaries so that the needs of industry, the natural environment and local communities can all be met.”

Estuaries such as the Humber, which link the open sea to internal waterways, combine marine and freshwater habitats and support important and protected natural ecosystems.

They also provide “services” to local communities, the university said, by mitigating the risk of flooding from storm surges and sea-level rises and by creating amenities for recreational activities such as fishing.

Their position makes them economically significant for ports, shipping, fisheries and manufacturing industries.

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“With the construction of several large-scale renewable energy port infrastructure projects planned for the Humber, the need for an integrated approach to the estuary’s management has never been more important,” Prof Elliott said.

“The Humber is commercially very important to the whole region, particularly in the current economic climate, when investment is so crucial for creating and protecting jobs.

“However, the economic benefits must be set against the needs of the communities and the environment. The main message is ensuring we get ‘wins’ for ecology, economy and public safety.”

One of the objectives is creating new wildlife habitats to compensate for the extension of ports.