P735 CJEFAX 735 Thu 21 Oct 21:17/20 1/5 Question: how do you prevent coastal erosion? Answer: let the sea do just what it will. It sounds like nonsense. But the Ministry of Agriculture and the Welsh Office say it is often the best protection from the waves. The departments take care of flood prevention and coastal protection in England and Wales. Their new strategy for flood and coastal defence was revealed on 11 October by Agriculture Minister, Gillian Shjphard. bz Alex Kirby, BBC correspondent Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP735 CEEFAX 735 Thu 21 Oct 21:19/16 2/5 Problems are obvious. Ri6ers are running high, roads and meadows are under water, after recent downpours In June an entire hotel slipped over a cliff edge in Scarborough, in East Anglia; the coast receded bz 40 metres in one year. Mudflats and saltmarshjs, vital for birds, are vanishing as boundaries between sea and land dissolve. bz Alex Kirby, BBC correspondent Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP735 CEEFAX 735 Thu 21 Oct 21:14/21 3/5 Traditionally, the remedy has been to go for what is called "a hard engineering solution" - a sea wall or flood defences to keep the waves in their place. But Gillian Shjphard, Agriculture Minister, signalled a new djparturj - safeguarding life will remain the over-riding priority. Then natural process will be left to do the job itself, for instance, by allowing tides and currents to build up sand and shingle on a beach and provide protection for the coastline behind it. bz Alex Kirby, BBC correspondent Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP735 CEEFAX 735 Thy 21 Oct 21:15/23 4/5 Somjtimeu, the Agriculture Ministry $5 says, there will bj a case for "managed retteatb: Acknowledging that we cannot defend "5 every inch of our existing coastline, and that we must let the sea should prevail. And all the time, the environment will be at centre stage. Any project, besides being technically sound and economically worthwhile, will have to show that it will not harm but help wildlife and habitats. bz Alex Kirby, BBC correspondent Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP735 CEEFAX 735 Thu 21 Oct 21:14/24 5/5 The Agriculture Ministry's new departure has earned it rare praise from conservationists. They have said the new strategy was a lifeline for wildlife, and a big step forward in Govjrnmjnt thinking. The south east corner of Britain is slowly sinking into the sea as the earth's crust adjusts after the last ice age. Global warming probably means sea levels will begin to rise sharply - so the problem is here to stay. bz Alex Kirby, BBC Correspondent Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo Religion