The Sharpham Trust’s work to restore a disappearing riverside habitat has received £25,000 in funding.
The South Devon charity’s Sharpham Estate borders the River Dart and the Trust has been repairing stone walls that protect areas of saltmarsh along its banks.
Now, thanks to a grant from Devon Environment Foundation that work will continue.
Saltmarshes are essential as they cushion tidal and wave energy, help prevent flooding & erosion, capture carbon, provide habitats for fish, birds and other wildlife and help regulate water quality by absorbing excess phosphates, nitrates and salt in river water.
Saltmarshes store carbon at a rate estimated to be 40 times that of woodland.
Yet 85% of England's saltmarsh has been lost in recent centuries to development and changing land use. More is at risk through rising sea levels and climate change.
This project protects 7,850m2 of saltmarsh, an area which has recently been designated as a County Wildlife Site. That means that it is part of a Devon-wide network of connected green and blue habitats through which wildlife can move.
The grant funding will help complete the restoration of traditional dry-stone walls that protect a large area of saltmarsh in front of Sharpham House, three miles downriver from Totnes.
Sharpham Trust Director Julian Carnell said: “The Dart has limited areas of saltmarsh remaining and so it is important to retain and conserve what still exists and prevent further deterioration.”
Amanda Keetley, Executive Director of Devon Environment Foundation, commented, “DEF is delighted to enable this area of saltmarsh at Sharpham to be protected. This is an essential first step to restore saltmarsh more widely on the River Dart.”
The funding will enable a local stonewaller Martin Stallard to continue to rebuild collapsed sections of wall - as he began to do in 2024. The stone then and for this new stage of the project is supplied by Dolphin Boatyard at Galmpton Creek on the Dart and transported upriver on a barge by a team from Dart Harbour who are also supporting the project.
Large areas of saltmarsh are shown on old 19th-century maps of the river, and the aim is that volunteers will install leaky dams to capture sediment which will gradually allow saltmarsh to return.
The funding monies were delivered through Crowdfunder - a South West-based funding platform - and donors can still contribute. Donate at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/saltmarsh-protection
Read more & see video about Sharpham Trust’s saltmarsh conservation here: www.sharphamtrust.org/saltmarsh
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