It’s an exciting summer for the RSPB and the Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, where work is ongoing to complete parts of this incredible new reserve, soon to be open and available for the public to visit.
The RSPB and Crossrail are looking forward to completing Jubilee Marsh this year along with some of the island’s other lagoons, creeks and ditches. Jubilee Marsh is the area of the island where Crossrail has delivered more than 3 million tonnes of soil by ship from their tunnelling and station excavations in London. The soils have been used to build a new sea embankment and placed at different heights across the eastern part of Wallasea Island to form saltmarsh, mudflats, islands and lagoons. This summer the RSPB and Crossrail will be making holes in the old sea wall to allow the sea into some of these landscaped areas creating incredible habitats that will provide a spectacular place for wildlife and people to enjoy.
As a result there will be lots more for visitors to see and walk around as summer progresses, giving people a chance to get close up views of the wildlife on the island and to explore further into the Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project. New paths opening this summer will give visitors a chance to get nearer to the wetland birds feeding and roosting on the lagoons, hares running through the grassland and butterflies flying among the flowers on the seawalls and saltmarsh. Over the summer, farmland birds will be nesting in the wild bird cover while bees will be foraging among the wild flowers and lizards can be spotted basking in the sun on the embankments. Summer is promising to bring the island alive this year with lots more for visitors to explore and discover.
The remainder of the reserve will still be in development until 2025, with lots more groundworks to be done to ensure this nature reserve provides an incredible array of wildlife with an amazing place to feed, breed and overwinter. The Wallasea Island Wild Coast project is a landmark conservation and engineering scheme, the largest of its type in Europe, and it is set to become one of the best nature reserves in the country.
If you want to come and see it while it is developing, the Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project is open every day. For a guided walk around the site, look out for the RSPB’s monthly Wallasea Wanders and over the summer holidays there will be weekly Wild Play Days for all the family. To find out more about this incredible project, visit www.rspb.org.uk/wallaseaisland
