The Severn Estuary Partnership is run from the University's School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences and involves 13 local authorities, the Environment Agency, countryside agencies and voluntary organisations.
The £150,000 funding forms part of a larger €uro 2.5 million CoastAtlantic research project, which involves nine European partners looking at how the Severn and the Atlantic coast (from Scotland to Portugal) can best be managed, and locally, how the Severn Estuary Partnership can get everyone with an interest, involved in doing so.
Locally, the project will address the vast area of coastline from Llantwit Major on the Welsh bank, up to Gloucester, and round to Minehead on the English bank. This Estuary boasts the second highest tidal range in the world. It is internationally recognised for nature conservation, has major industries and ports sited around its shores, and attracts several million visitors each year to a variety of tourist attractions.
Project work has already started with the establishment of community groups that focus on themes such as coastal access and recreation, rural landscapes and economies, nature conservation and cultural heritage issues.
One of the aims is to improve and develop sustainable access to and around the Estuary through developing walks and trails. Other actions include, investigating and testing ways to boost local economies by promoting local produce, and working to develop a greater understanding of the archaeological and nature conservation values of the Severn Estuary coastal zone.
George Ashworth, Chairman of the Severn Estuary Partnership said that the new funding will make a big difference to the work of the Partnership.
"It means that, as well as getting a greater number of people aware of and involved in the management of the Severn, we are able to focus our efforts on visible actions around the estuary that would otherwise not have been possible."
For further information about the work of the Severn Partnership Project, visit www.severnestuarystrategy.org.uk
Notes to editors:
(1) The Severn Estuary Partnership (SEP), involving 13 Local Authorities, the Environment Agency, countryside agencies, Cardiff University and voluntary organisations, aims to encourage its partners to adopt a co-ordinated approach and take an estuary-wide view towards their management activities on the Severn.
SEP has been working with its partners to develop the Strategy for the Severn, which was published late 2001. This document covers a wide range of issues from recreation to industry, setting down policies and proposing actions on the Severn to ensure its environmental, social and economic well-being into the 21st century. The Partnership is currently progressing to the implementation phase of the Strategy.
The CoastAtlantic project has been designed in order to do so, implementing key policies from the Strategy. At the same time as working locally, the project will be carried out in collaboration with organisations along the Atlantic coast from Scotland to Portugal.
The project funding has been awarded by the Interreg IIIb Atlantic Arc Programme which is a European Commission Community Initiative aiming to promote transnational co-operation on spatial planning by encouraging balanced development across Europe. The overall aim is to ensure that national borders are not a barrier to balanced development and to strengthen co-operation of areas to their mutual advantage. Funding was also received from the UK Government's Office for the Deputy Prime Minister due to the leading role that the Severn Estuary Partnership played in developing the project.