Foreword by the Managing Director

A look back on 2006 is celebrated with Admiral taking ownership of ABP and with a new captain at the helm for ABPmer. This was also another busy year which was rewarded by exceptional performance, allowing us to grow to over 40 members of staff.

At the start of the year we were visited by a delegation from Shenzhen China. The visitors were on a fact-finding mission and met with several members of staff to discuss the siltation in the Sham Chun River. The delegation found the meeting useful and came away with a better perspective on how to solve their siltation problems.

Our work in the Severn Estuary continued with the completion of the Severn Estuary Coastal Habitat Management Plan (CHaMP). Our input to the project involved assessing the changes and predicted changes on the estuary under different scenarios. At the end of 2006 the project was nominated for an award at the Environment Agency’s inaugural Project Excellence Awards. It subsequently finished as runner up in the ‘Innovation and Technical Excellence’ category.

ABPmer’s involvement with the Wallasea managed realignment project was highlighted at the 2006 DEFRA conference where a recording of the breach was shown at the conference. Some members of our staff were present at the breach which created 115ha of new mudflat and saltmarsh habitat plus 5ha of new mitigation habitat at Wallasea Island on the Crouch Estuary in Essex. The event made the national news with the BBC, Channel 4 and numerous websites reporting on the breach. We are now undertaking a 5-year ecological monitoring programme to verify the impacts predicted in the EIA and to assess the site's success in terms of delivering the compensation targets.

We further consolidated our position with the renewables sector with the completion of a report for the Countryside Council for Wales and The Crown Estate on the potential nature conservation impacts of wave and tidal energy extraction. ABPmer’s study identified the nature conservation interests that are likely to be vulnerable to a reduction in wave or tidal energy and presents the information in a way to assist developers by highlighting where potential impacts can be minimised.

ABPmer’s contribution to EU funded projects was highlighted during 2006 with a staff member receiving an award from the Ecoports foundation. The ‘Young Ports Professional of the Year’ award was made to Lucy Adams from our environment team in recognition of her contribution to the implementation of port-environmental initiatives and her efforts in promoting the role of EcoPorts Foundation. Lucy played an instrumental role in helping ABP achieve Ports Environmental Review System (PERS) certification for 10 of its ports.

Bill Cooper
Managing Director

< < Back to the Reports & Publications page.