Feeling the Squeeze on the Tees A T A L E O F I N D U S T R I A L D E V E L O P M E N T , S P E C I E S A N D

H A B I T A T L O S S A N D A P L A N T O H E L P T H E C O M E B A C K

C O N T I N U E

The Tees has been home to a thrivingport since medieval times. The towns ofYarm and then Stockton were used totransport local goods to the rest of theUK. As trade increased, more peoplewere drawn to the area, and, whenironstone was found in the Eston Hillsduring the 1800‘s, an industrial boombegan, with iron works popping up allalong the river. As industry grew, morepeople were drawn to the area for workand the towns of Middlesbrough andBillingham became established.

The reclaiming of land and rise insea levels due to climate change hasmeant that much of the intertidalhabitat around the Tees, whichwould have stretched for many miles,is now gone. The steep gradient of slag, concretewalls and other man madestructures, leaves very little spacefor intertidal species to colonise.This lack of intertidal habitat is wellknown on the Tees and on estuariesaround the UK andworldwide.  Saltmarsh habitat isscarce around the UK but the Tees islucky enough to have one of the fewpatches within the North East ofEngland. The plants that live in thishabitat as well as the rest of theintertidal zone, are specialised to aspecific band of the intertidal zone.

With more ironworks around the river, the waste products built up, and theestuary began to be used as adumping site for slag.  As the areaprospered, the population increased,and the waste products from industrybegan to pile up, more and more ofthe Tees estuary was reclaimed.  Industry quickly too advantage ofaccessibility to shipping and trade onthis newly made land, creating moreindustry and infrastructure for movinggoods around on land and by boat. 

northsearegion.eu/immerse@IMMERSE_NSR

Layers of slag visible at low tide at the TeesIMMERSE site. Layers of slag were poured atthe river side from multiple steel works along theriver.

An overlay of theshape of Teesmouth inthe modern daycompared to the openBay that existed prior tohuge areas of landreclamation.

This is what gives our estuaries andcoasts their distinctive nature; as youmove towards the water, the speciesunderfoot change, in stripes of colourand character.  Mudflat is also a keyresource that is lacking on manyestuaries. The specialised birds andinvertebrates that call this habitat home,rely on these expanses of mud to providefood throughout the year.  Teesmouthand Cleveland Coast is designated aSpecial Protection Area for its coastaland wading bird species, which use themudflats when they overwinter here insignificant numbers.

The Tees is now hoping to deliversimilar results on a smaller budget.Using the findings from the ThamesEstuary Project, we hope to implementcreative habitat creation methods,repurposing current structures fromour industrial past to build newhabitat opportunities. All along the river, stakeholders frommultiple industries and backgroundshave engaged with natureconservation and monitoring. We arehopeful that this project will identify afurther opportunity for many of thebusinesses working on the river toenhance their property for wildlife.

Due to the need for more of these keyhabitats to support wildlife, there is nowa push to create more intertidal habitatin many of our estuaries. One example ofwhere this has been achieved is in theThames Estuary. Here the river bankshave had multiple solutions implementedto create steps and more naturalisedbanks. These include design elementsthat increase accessability for fish andinclude planted native saltmarshspecies.

northsearegion.eu/immerse@IMMERSE_NSR

Feeling the Squeeze on the Tees A T A L E O F I N D U S T R I A L D E V E L O P M E N T , S P E C I E S A N D

H A B I T A T L O S S A N D A P L A N T O H E L P T H E C O M E B A C K

C O N T I N U E

Pilot site forintertidal habitatworks taken bythe University ofHull IECS usinga drone.

Intertidal habitat created on the GreenwichPeninsula as part of the Thames EstuaryPartnership Project.