Action Plan: Saline Lagoons

Saline lagoons in the UK are natural or artificial bodies of water which are partially separated from the sea, retaining water at low tide. Different types of lagoons range from those adjacent to the sea separated by sand, to ponded waters occurring in soft sedimentary shores, to those separated by a rocky sill or artificial construction such as a sea wall. Sea water exchange occurs through natural or man-made channels and levels of salinity can vary depending on the level of freshwater input from ground or surface water. Saline lagoons can provide an important habitat for waterfowl, marshland birds and sea birds as well as many invertebrates, indigenous and specialist plants and animals rarely found elsewhere making them an important habitat in the UK’s biodiversity. There are a number of animals listed as priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan which are predominantly or only found in saline lagoons including the starlet sea anemone, the lagoon sand shrimp and the lagoon seaslug. The presence of these species also benefits other lagoon flora and fauna, some of which are also rare or specialist species. The current threat of sea level rise will eventually lead to the loss of the saline lagoon habitat as a very minimal rise in sea level will affect the natural process of lagoon formation. In order to extend the future of this habitat, locations must be found for lagoon creation.