Lower Otter Restoration Project
23.03.2021
The £15 million Lower Otter Restoration Project is working with local people and partner organisations to adapt and enhance the River Otter estuary, and its immediate surroundings in the face of a rapidly changing climate.
Led by Clinton Devon Estates and the Environment Agency, this project will create 55 hectares of mudflats, saltmarsh and other habitats with the aim to prevent future major flooding and reduce the impact of climate change.
This project proposes a more sustainable way of managing the Otter Estuary and its immediate surroundings by working with nature. By purposefully breaching the existing coastal defences in a controlled manner the historic floodplain can be restored to avoid damage from future floods and create carbon storing habitats.
Through protecting carbon rich wetland habitats, this project is working to achieve the goal of the Devon Carbon Plan that Devon’s coastal ecosystems and their significant carbon stores are protected, restored and enhanced.
This project is partially funded by Promoting Adaptation to Changing Coasts (PACCo), a €26m initiative supported by the European Union’s Interreg VA France Channel England programme.
How is this helping Devon reach net-zero?
Action F23.2 – Pilot initiatives which increase blue carbon sequestration.
Action F24 – Develop more whole-catchment improvement projects.
