ion/ Emission Water & Sediment flows Input loads Transport & Decay Ecological state variables

The coastal lowlands of the UK have been subject to ad hoc embankment and land-use modification changes since the Romano-British Period, some 2000 years ago. The present coastal zone configuration reflects this unregulated development with, in England alone, over 860 km of soft cliffs susceptible to erosion requiring protection (23% of the coastline) and in excess of 1259 km of sea-defences protecting 2347 km2 of embanked lowlands from flooding. It is on these coastal flood plains that over 5% of the population live (more than 2 million people) and 50% of the highest grade agricultural land is found. The remaining coastal natural resources in the UK are suffering from the sustained net decline, in part related to coastal squeeze of intertidal habitats. This squeeze process results in the loss of intertidal resources as the intertidal zone itself is reduced because of sea level rise and the presence of engineered defence structures along the shoreline. (Crooks and Turner, 1999)