Hythe Lagoons near Wivenhoe is to benefit from 750 hedging plants donated by the Environment Agency.
Over the last two years the Agency has cleared vegetation from flood defences throughout Essex and south Suffolk to help maintain more than 300km of sea and estuary walls that protect people and property from flooding.
Now Colchester Borough Council's country park team has been given Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Native Dogwood plants for planting at Hythe Lagoons this February. They will help to provide cover for the lagoon’s birds, and the Blackthorn and Hawthorn berries will provide food for the birds during the winter.
Fencing will protect the plants from cattle which graze the marsh.
Paul Vickers, Countryside Manager at Colchester Borough Council said: “Plants provided by the Environment Agency will improve habitat diversity on the site and will benefit the wildlife that it supports.”
Where possible, compensatory planting has been done in Essex on land adjacent to the flood defence where vegetation has been cleared. Working with landowners suitable sites have been identified around the coast and already in excess of 5,000 trees have been planted.