2003
Managed realignment
United Kingdom
Cromarty Firth (Highland Region)
-4.0332
57.7389
Mudflat
Saltmarsh
Transitional Grassland
25 Hectares
Habitat Creation
Demonstration or Pilot Project
Create a More Natural Shoreline
The RSPB’s Nigg Bay nature reserve (Cromarty Firth) is Scotland’s first coastal realignment. In February 2003, after several years of planning and studying the potential realignment site, two 20m breaches were dug into the existing sea wall at the field known locally as ‘Meddat Marsh’ in Nigg Bay, allowing the tide to enter the field for the first time since the 1950s. The reports produced by the RSPB (see Elliott 2015 - see link below) provide a valuable description of how the project was implemented and how it developed.