THE first World Saltmarsh Day was marked this week on Steart Marshes, which covers nearly 1,200 acres of working wetland landscape.

Steart Marshes, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, is the first Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) working reserve, providing flood defence for local homes and businesses, a showcase for productive farmland, and a home to a thriving nature reserve.

It was in 2014 that saltwater first entered the breach in the Steart peninsula sea wall to start the creation of the wildlife reserve.

A WWT spokesperson said: “It proves we can fight climate change by working with nature.

“They are incredible coastal wetland habitats.

“Filled and drained by the tides, creating a unique watery mosaic of salt-tolerant plants, creeks, pools, and grasses, home to a vast array of wildlife.

“Historically seen as unproductive and drained for use as agricultural land, or squeezed by static sea defences, we are working hard to bring these habitats back.”

Funding from insurance giant Aviva and from the Bristol Port Company has been helping WWT to bring back to life some of the UK’s most biodiverse habitats.

It has also been two years since the declaration of the Somerset Wetlands as a ‘Super National Nature Reserve’.

A key part of the WWT’s restoration work has focused on creating and enhancing physical habitat features.

In the past year, through its species survival fund project ‘Wetter for Waders’, the trust has built two new scrapes, dug nearly one-and-a-quarter miles of new ditches, gripes, and muddy margins, created a ‘ghost pond’ to bring historic wetland back to life, restored 12 existing ponds, and constructed a large new pond at Stockland Marshes.

The features help retain more water during dry summer months and provide essential conditions for breeding waders, amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates.

The ‘Wetter for Waders’ project is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs species survival fund and is being delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

More information about the WWT’s work to restore and protect saltmarshes can be found on its website.

A wetland management demonstration afternoon is being held from 2 pm to 4 pm on Tuesday, June 24, for people to find out how the trust is managing wetland vegetation at Steart Marshes.