RESEARCHERS have warned that English and Welsh estuaries risk losing important habitat as it is squeezed out by rising seas and human development.

Estuaries are key for wildlife such as wading birds and for the environment, storing carbon and improving water quality by filtering nutrients, contaminants and sediment, according to the scientists.

Nottingham Trent University’s Dr Sally Little warned that tidal freshwater and low-salt zones at the top of our estuaries are crucial as homes to different plants and animals.

“They are also critical habitat and corridors for migratory fish moving between river and sea,” she said.

“Many of these zones are being squeezed due to climate change and development, and we now risk losing some of them completely.”

The research found that tidal freshwater marshes have similar or larger potential for storing carbon and providing natural services than saltmarshes, where much of the focus for restoring coastal habitat has been.

“Our study underscores the urgent need for monitoring and management, but it also presents a unique opportunity to compensate for their loss through the creation of tidal freshwater marshes,” Dr Little said.