Coastal and Marine

Suffolk’s coastline stretches for approximately 60 miles from Lowestoft in the north to Felixstowe in the south, encompassing some of the most dynamic and ecologically significant shorelines in England. It is also one of the fastest-eroding coastlines in Europe, losing land to the sea at rates that can exceed several metres a year in places such as Covehithe and Easton Bavents. This constant change – catastrophic in human terms – is ecologically fundamental, generating the bare, disturbed ground and shallow intertidal zones on which many coastal species depend.

Below the tideline, Suffolk’s subtidal habitats include nationally important seagrass beds dominated by dwarf eelgrass (Zostera noltei), which support invertebrate communities and provide nursery habitat for juvenile fish. Subtidal and intertidal reefs, though less extensive than further north, add structural complexity to an otherwise predominantly sandy and muddy seabed. Coastal and floodplain grazing marshes, found at sites such as RSPB Minsmere, North Warren and Havergate Island, function as transitional habitats between the open coast and the farmed interior, supporting breeding waders, wintering wildfowl and a rich invertebrate fauna.

The kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), one of the LNRS’s 21 key species for focused action, nests on coastal structures along the Suffolk coast, representing the southernmost limit of significant breeding colonies on the English east coast. Its presence is a marker of the health of near-shore marine food webs. Suffolk’s coastal and marine habitats face acute pressures from sea-level rise, increased storminess, coastal squeeze, recreational disturbance, and deteriorating water quality, making their protection and sensitive management a priority for the coming decades.