MMO1135 Potential Beneficial use Mud Stretches which may Benefit

Broad intertidal / muddy shoreline stretches in England which are thought to be eroding and could thus benefit particularly from beneficial use are identified. Line data was identifiedby undertaking a review of SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) site condition reports, and mapping these in a line format. Limitations of this datalayer include the fact that it only highlights SSSI-designated shorelines (although around 90 to 95% of England’s soft shorelines are SSSI designated ); and that it relies on likely subjective site condition assessments by Natural England officers, which may be fairly dated, or soon be updated. Despite these limitations, from known historic trends, and feedback from stakeholders, it appears that the datalayer successfully identifies the key eroding soft/intertidal shorelines in England.