A SALTMARSH near Colchester is set to be used for a huge new national research project to better understand how it can help save the planet. 

The project will see the installation of a flux tower on a saltmarsh at Abbotts Hall in the Blackwater Estuary in Great Wigborough.

The project, which has been funded by the Environment Agency and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), will see the setup of four flux towers on UK saltmarshes.

Saltmarshes are considered vital ecosystems, offering a habitat for a plethora of creatures, acting as natural flood defences, and capturing CO2 from the atmosphere which it stores in its sediments.

Dr Ben Green, senior advisor in estuaries and coasts planning for the Environment Agency, said: "These flux towers will improve our understanding of the ability of saltmarsh habitats to sequester carbon across tides, days, seasons and years.

"The evidence they will provide will be key to support the further restoration of saltmarshes, and for the inclusion of these habitats on the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory."

Despite their significance, there is a scarcity of data about how saltmarshes capture and store carbon.

The tower at Abbotts Hall will provide ongoing, real-time data to deepen understanding of the role saltmarshes play as carbon sinks now and in the future.

Similar towers previously used in other environments such as forests and peat bogs have offered essential data, encouraging restoration and investment.

Two additional towers have been positioned in Lincolnshire in partnership with the RSPB, with the plan for one more to be installed in the future.

Rachel Langley, head of marine and coastal recovery for Essex Wildlife Trust who is working with the Environment Agency on the project, said: "Saltmarshes epitomise the Essex coast and support a huge range of wildlife from tiny insects to fish in the creeks and birds roosting and feeding on the marsh.

"The historic loss of saltmarshes and the current degraded state of many highlights the urgency of recovering these important and iconic habitats.

"Essex Wildlife Trust is pleased to work in partnership with the Environment Agency to fill key evidence gaps to support the further restoration of saltmarshes."