Conservation of the Stour and Orwell estuaries

On 24 June 2004, PMSC members were amongst the 70 or so people attending a meeting of the Stour and Orwell Estuaries Forum, an event open to individuals and organizations with an interest in the Estuaries. The Forum is an annual event organized by the Stour and Orwell Estuaries Management Group, and this year focused on the theme of Recreation. Those attending received presentations from a range of speakers on subjects including sailing, sea angling, wildfowling, and the new Essex Heritage Coastal Trail, and were able to ask questions and participate in discussion.

The Forum also provided the launch pad for the publication of the new 2004 Management Plan. The key aim of the Plan is the sustainable management of human activity in a way that is compatible with the conservation of the two estuaries. The Plan deals with issues such as recreation, the commercial use of the estuaries including fishing and the busy ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich, air and water quality and wildlife conservation, for which the estuaries are internationally important. The document is non-statutory and complements the separate Stour and Orwell Management Scheme, already published, which is statutory and deals solely with wildlife conservation.

The new Management Plan replaces and updates an earlier plan, published in 1996, which successfully promoted an integrated and inclusive approach to the management of the estuaries. It contains targets that will be reviewed annually and reported at future Forum meetings.

Anyone interested in reading the detailed plan will find a copy in the PMSC library. You may also like to visit www.stourandorwell.org and - for information on the wider area - www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org.uk

Rick Kirkup