Minister for Environment Hannah Blythyn has today announced £600,000 of funding towards a new national Coastal Monitoring Centre.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The Minister made the announcement at a meeting of the Welsh Assembly’s Climate Change and Rural Affairs Committee.
The Centre will be led by a collaboration between Conwy, Gwynedd and the Vale of Glamorgan Local Authorities. It will be supported by an expert advisory panel including Natural Resources Wales, the Wales Coastal Groups Forum and our universities.
Local Authorities currently carry out monitoring of their coastlines in isolation. The new Centre will provide co-ordinated planning along the whole coastline, improving data and supporting robust evidence-based decision making.
Targeted and sustained coastal monitoring will improve understanding of how complex coastal systems are evolving in response to changes in the environment. It is also used to measure the success of techniques such as natural flood management, including beach nourishment or salt marsh restoration.
The new Centre will collect monitoring data along the length of the Welsh coast, to improve the understanding of the impact of climate change on our coastline and ensure investment in sea defences is targeted at the areas most at risk.
The Minister said:
“I’m pleased to announce today an investment of £600,000 towards a new Wales Coastal Monitoring Centre. The centre will help inform future investment decisions on a national basis, helping reduce the risk to our coast and coastal communities.
“People living in coastal areas of Wales will be well aware of the effect rising sea levels is having on parts of the Welsh coastline. It is important we improve coastal monitoring data, so we can understand better the impact of climate change on Wales’s coast.“This funding underlines our commitment to minimising the impact of climate change on our coastline.”