24.2.2026 | Ports

Harwich Haven Authority (HHA) is pleased to announce the launch of the BUDS (Beneficial Use of Dredged Sediment) project – working with local conservationists on a pioneering initiative that will reuse dredged sediment from harbour maintenance to restore saltmarsh habitat and enhance coastal protection around the Haven.

Rather than disposing of dredged sediment removed from Copperas Bay on the Suffolk/Essex coast, BUDS will repurpose it to restore saltmarsh, stabilise shorelines, and support biodiversity, including native plants such as sea lavender and samphire, as well as habitat for saltmarsh and estuarine wildlife.

“This project will safeguard the Haven’s vital navigation channel while turning routine dredging into a nature-positive opportunity,” said Harwich Haven Authority’s Harbour Engineer, Jim Warner.

“Maintaining the Haven’s navigation channel is essential to the national economy and supports thousands of local jobs, whilst ensuring the smooth operation of one of the UK’s busiest ports.”

“Through the BUDS initiative, we’re able to reuse the sediment from this work to help restore and protect the Haven’s vulnerable saltmarsh. This approach delivers long-term benefits for both local communities and the wildlife that depends on these coastal habitats.”

Saltmarsh is a rare and special habitat in the UK that teems with wildlife, but much has been lost due to sea-level rise and changes in land use. Dredged sediment will help restore the eroded saltmarsh, which regularly floods with seawater, creating the unique habitat there. Over time, the restored saltmarsh will repopulate with small, salt-tolerant plants that help catch more mud and silt, continually growing and expanding this special habitat.

Work will also benefit many species of bird, some of which are threatened, by providing habitat rich in food for overwintering wading birds, including Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank, Turnstones, Curlew, Grey Plovers, Knot and Dunlin. Flocks of wildfowl, including Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Mallard, Shelduck and Dark-bellied Brent Goose, will also benefit during the winter months.

The saltmarsh to be restored is sizeable, at just over 76.5 hectares, equivalent to 107 football pitches.

Works at Copperas Bay are due to take place between 20 February and 20 March 2026. The programme will involve sediment pumping by dredging contractor Boskalis Westminster, followed by the installation of temporary bunds and the placement of coir rolls by construction contractor Amicus Civil Engineering to keep sediment in place initially, and then vegetation and habitat restoration.

Rick Vonk, Site Manager at RSPB Stour Estuary, said: “Re-using dredged sediment is a clever way of using a natural solution to solve the problem of saltmarsh loss. We look forward to seeing the results of the work with HHA, and how it will help wading and wildfowl birds thrive at RSPB Stour Estuary in the future.”

Dr Natalie Hicks, from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Essex, said: “University of Essex researchers are delighted to be involved in assessing the recovery of the saltmarsh following the addition of dredged sediment.”

“There is a real potential for this novel approach to enhance saltmarsh restoration and future-proof our coastlines, particularly under rising sea levels due to climate change.

“Saltmarshes play a key role in supporting biodiversity, protecting our coasts and taking up and storing carbon, so this restoration and protection may prove pivotal in tackling climate change. This project demonstrates how industry, conservation organisations and academia can work together to protect and restore our coasts for the future.”

Theadora Sherriff, a Master’s student at the University, together with colleagues Professor Graham Underwood, Dr Natalie Hicks and Dr Nicola Slee, will undertake an ambitious fieldwork campaign to monitor the saltmarsh and the repopulation of saltmarsh plants over the weeks and months following the BUDS addition.

Image: Rick Vonk, RSPB.