New coalition awarded $5 million to turn the tide on the Thames

One of the world's most famous waterways is about to get a huge transformation - as part of a multi-million dollar project.  

Coastal habitats along the Greater Thames Estuary, the life source of England's capital and far beyond, will be restored as part of the $5 million project, providing vital spaces for wildlife and healthier environments for people.  

Transforming the Thames

Led by our team of conservationists, the new Transforming the Thames collaboration brings together conservationists, local communities, government bodies and landowners – including from RSPB, Essex and Kent Wildlife Trusts, The Environment Agency and Essex and Kent County Councils - with the combined goal of reviving the Greater Thames Estuary, supporting both the wildlife that calls it home and the 8 million people that will benefit from improved access to nature and better protection from the impacts of climate change.  

The grant, awarded by the Endangered Landscape and Seascape Programme and worth almost £4 million, will enable the team to kick off the first four years of their pioneering mission to restore key habitats across the estuary, tackle the biggest threats destroying existing habitats, and empower others – from individuals to businesses - to scale up transformation across the region.  

Anna Cucknell, ZSL’s UK Coastal Habitat Recovery Programme Manager said: “Spanning an impressive 250,000 hectares from Felixstowe in the north to Whitstable in the south, the Greater Thames Estuary marks where the River Thames meets the North Sea, and is one of Europe’s most important wetlands. This intricate tapestry of habitats provides a home and nursery grounds to an abundance of native wildlife, from Critically Endangered European eels and ‘superhero’ water filtering oysters, to much beloved species like porpoises, seahorses and lapwings.”  

“Decades of degradation and fragmentation from building works, pollution, overfishing and climate change have unfortunately left the estuary in a poor state. We all rely on healthy, functioning ecosystems for our own wellbeing. From shipping to science, we’re uniting people from across the region to bring this incredible landscape to life once more.”  

How are conservationists working to restore wildlife in the Thames?

The project will focus on restoring six vital habitats found across the estuary – native oyster beds, seagrass meadows, saltmarshes, coastal grazing marsh, saline lagoons, and sand and shingle bird nesting habitat. The Thames has lost over 95% of native oysters since 1800s and up to 44% of seagrass since 1936 while Essex has lost 92% of its coastal grazing marsh between 1938-1981, removing the very foundations that native wildlife relies upon.  

Through restoring these habitats and rebuilding healthy, resilient ecosystems throughout the estuary, the work will also help reduce flooding and coastal erosion, improve water quality and capture carbon – simultaneously helping tackle climate change while also lessening its impacts on local communities.  

Why is it important to restore nature in the Thames?

Through restoring these habitats and rebuilding healthy, resilient ecosystems throughout the estuary, the work will also help reduce flooding and coastal erosion, improve water quality and capture carbon – simultaneously helping tackle climate change while also lessening its impacts on local communities.  

Anna continued: “The Thames can recover, but it needs our help. ZSL has been working in the area for over 20 years, so we’re delighted that this funding allows the coalition to take restoring the Thames to the next level and really scale up what we can achieve together.”    

The work will include planting seagrass to recover these biodiversity-boosting underwater meadows, restoring marshes that provide a home and breeding grounds for birds such as sandpipers, geese and lapwings, along with mapping pollution sources to tackle poor water quality throughout the estuary.  

Alan Johnson, RSPB South East Regional Manager said: “The Thames Estuary is an amazing place for wildlife and rightly recognised as internationally important.  We’re really excited to be working with ZSL on the Transforming the Thames project, which will bring together abroad range of partners for the first time, all with the interests of the Estuary at heart.  We will be creating large areas of new wetland habitat as part of this project, creating space for important species, such as redshank and lapwing.  I’m feeling really optimistic about the future of the Thames.”

By recovering these precious ecosystems so close to London and restoring the cultural, social and economic benefits that they bring, the ambitious project hopes to set an example for other major cities in the UK and globally of what can be achieved for people and nature.   

Rachel Langley, Head of Marine and Coastal Recovery at Essex Wildlife Trust said : “Essex’s coastline is iconic, varied and special - from moody marshes teeming with wildlife, to characterful towns built from their coastal heritage.

“Essex Wildlife Trust is thrilled to be a partner of Transforming the Thames and are excited to bring our 60+ years of experience working for nature and people in Essex to the project. This is the first time these multiple coastal habitats will be recovered under one umbrella partnership; and it is this collaboration and our joint ambition that will enable us to scale up restoration, and connect our valuable coastal habitats to enable our coastal wildlife to thrive.”  

The project is a partnership between 19 organisations working in the Thames;  Bird Aware Essex Coast, Crown Estate, Environment Agency, Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust, Essex Rivers Hub Catchment Partnership, Essex County Council, Essex Local Nature Partnership, Essex Wildlife Trust, Kent and Essex IFCA, Kent County Council, Kent Wildlife Trust Group (Adonis Blue Environmental Consultancy), Medway and Swale Estuary Partnership, Natural England, the Port of London Authority (PLA), Project Seagrass, RSPB, Thames Estuary Partnership, University of Essex, ZSL.

Our conservation work in the Thames

We have been working passionately with partners and volunteers since 2004 to drive improvements to the ecology and biodiversity of the Thames estuary and the wider river basin, and to conserve and better understand the habitats and species that are found here. From working to establish the first UK project restoring native oyster reefs to monitoring the river’s seal populations from the skies, our team is working to understand, protect and restore the estuaries coastal habitats for people and wildlife.