LIFE ON THE EDGE (LOTE) PROJECT
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Partners & Funding

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Our Partnership For Life on the Edge

​The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is the largest wildlife conservation NGO in Europe, with more than 2,000 paid employees, more than 17,000 active volunteers, and more than 1.1 million subscribing members. It manages more than 200 nature reserves throughout the UK, covering almost 145,000 ha. In addition, it carries out a wide variety of research, advisory, education and advocacy work. As detailed on Form A7, it has been involved as Coordinating or Associated Beneficiary in a large number of previous LIFE projects.

The RSPB has great  experience of creating and improving coastal habitats for the benefit of the birds and other  wildlife that  depend  on them. Approximately 70 (or one-third) of its nature  reserves  are coastal, and many of these have been significantly enhanced under its ownership rather than simply being  maintained. For example, its  reserve  on Wallasea Island to the east of London has been created largely from  arable farmland, and when complete will cover more than 740 ha and be the largest man-made wetland of its type in Europe. Furthermore, the RSPB has helped  partner organisations in many other countries protect coastal sites or make them  more valuable; examples of these sites include the Poda Protected Area in Bulgaria, the Tana Delta in Kenya and the Chongming Dongtan  National Nature Reserve in China.


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  • The National Trust for  Places  of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty ('National Trust' or 'NT') is one  of Europe's largest and oldest  heritage and conservation NGOs. Established in 1895, the National Trust now owns over 250,000  ha of heritage land- including over 1,250  km of heritage coast- and 29,500 buildings on behalf of the  nation, for  ever  and for  everyone. About  40% of the land  the Trust  owns  is covered by statutory designations for its natural heritage value. Over 30% of the Trust's land is designated as Natura 2000. Today  the Trust  has 5.8 million members, employs over  6,600  FTE staff, and is supported by over 60,000 volunteers. Its total income for  2017/18 was €660  million.

Although totally independent of the State, the NT has unique  powers set out in The National Trust Act 1907 and  subsequent Acts  of  Parliament. These  powers allow the  Trust to declare its  land and  chattels inalienable. Once declared, this means  that  the land/chattels can never be sold, mortgaged or compulsory purchased except  by special Parliamentary procedure. The Trust is thus perpetual owner of these  heritage assets.

The  NT has  considerable experience of  owning and  managing N2K  designated coastal wetlands - accounting for 17% of its total  250,000-ha landownership.It also owns over 30 individual offshore islands. The Trust through its acclaimed 'Shifting Shores' policy  has been at the forefront of driving and influencing coastal  climate change  adaptation and mitigation. Our stance is to permit natural processes  to occur in all except  a small number of sites. Northey Island is the top priority for sustainable intervention, in this case to enable  designated habitats and species to adjust  and thrive.In the 1990s  Northey  was the site of the first managed realignment pilot  scheme  in England using natural processes. The Trust has learnt  considerable lessons and data from  this experience which  it will apply  to this project and elsewhere.


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Funding
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The project partners successfully applied to the EU LIFE Nature and Biodiversity fund, and throughout the Project's four years will be able to call on funds of €4,035,459, 60% funded by the European Union and 40% from contributions by the partners.
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EU LIFE - https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life
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Natura 2000 - https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000

Project LIFE on the edge: improving the condition and long-term resilience of key coastal SPAs in S, E and N England is supported by the LIFE Programme of the European Union
LIFE19 NAT/UK/000964
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