Celebrating Chichester Harbour

Published 01:00 on 15 Sep 2023

Over 70 people attended a very interesting, informative and enjoyable talk by Jess Vagg, Project Manager, from Chichester Harbour Conservancy (CHC). She was introduced by Nigel Tailyour a member of the Friends of Chichester Harbour (FCH) and an ESC member.

Nigel explained how the FCH support the work of the CHC and highlighted a report by Natural England on the condition of the harbour, published in 2021 following surveys undertaken in 2019. This report was unfavourable and concluded that the harbour was in decline. This was in large part due to the deterioration of saltmarsh and the need to improve the habitat for birds wintering and nesting in the harbour. Fortunately, a government grant from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund has helped the CHC to begin to address these challenges.

These two areas the successful Return of the Terns project and the important work being carried out now to improve saltmarsh in the harbour were the main focus of Jess' talk.

Nigel encouraged members to considering joining the Friends of Chichester Harbour and if anyone would like to learn more please click on the link - https://friendsch.org/ .