Protecting Delaware’s Oceans and Coastal Habitats
Discover how TNC and partners are protecting habitats, supporting communities and preparing Delaware’s coast for a changing.
Stretching from the mouth of the Delaware River in southern New Castle County to the Atlantic Ocean, the Delaware Bayshore hosts more than 50 miles of tidal shoreline backed by a variety of dunes, tidal salt marshes, freshwater wetlands and maritime forest. These natural areas serve as critical habitat for a number of economically and recreationally important horseshoe crabs, fish species and migratory birds, including the federally threatened red knot, a shorebird that flies 9,300 miles from South America to the Arctic each spring.
Marshes and wetlands also provide benefits to farmland, property and inland communities that call the Bayshore home. Healthy coastal marshes protect our coasts during heavy storms—which are becoming more frequent due to climate change—by mitigating inland flooding, which can damage infrastructure, homes and personal property as well as ruin agricultural fields. Marsh vegetation also helps prevent erosion and acts as a natural filter of sediment and nutrient pollution.
With Delaware’s Technical Climate Advisors Committee reporting an increase of sea levels at the Lewes tide gauge of about 5 ½ inches in the last 20 years and projecting an additional increase of between 15 and 27 inches by 2070, these highly productive coastal habitats will need to adapt and migrate inland. With proper conservation planning and community-led action, however, the real extent of marsh habitats could increase or even expand.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is committed to working with partners throughout the Delaware Bayshore landscape to advance coastal resilience and climate adaptation, including strategies to conserve additional lands, facilitate marsh migration, increase the resiliency of vulnerable human communities and restore critical habitats for our iconic migratory fish, birds and wildlife.
Hear from Will Helt, Director of Delaware's Oceans & Coasts Progam
Q: What are the Oceans and Coasts Program’s priorities in Delaware?
A: Our priority focus here is safeguarding the natural resources of the Delaware Bayshore. This region hosts more than 50 miles of tidal shoreline along the Delaware Bay, which supports critical phenomena like the largest aggregation of spawning horseshoe crabs on the Atlantic Coast and the second largest population of migrating shorebirds in North America.
The habitats of the Bayshore, like marshes, beaches, and coastal forests, not only support biodiversity but also other ecosystem services that are critical for environmental function and communities, including water filtering, attenuating storm impacts, and sequestering carbon.
Our goal for these habitats is that they persist and remain productive through ongoing threats that result in loss and degradation.
Q: What are the threats they face?
A: These coastal habitats are threatened in large part by climate change, which brings impacts like rising seas, increasing temperatures, and increasingly frequent and intense storms. Sea level rise is critical because, as it occurs, tidal habitats like salt marshes become inundated more frequently and eventually drown. On the upland side, coastal forests are becoming increasingly salt-intruded, a process where the soil and groundwater become more salty, which disrupts their ability to uptake water and nutrients. Eventually, these trees and plants die, forming “ghost forests” along the coast.
Q: What can be done to make sure they are not lost?
A: Our best bet is to ensure these habitats have space to adapt to the changing climate conditions. For example, tidal marshes may be able to move along with sea level rise within their tidal niche over time if provided with an upland pathway. This process is called “marsh migration.” Ideally, beaches and dunes are able to do the same, as storm events push sand further inland. For our coastal forests, we should protect the existing habitats, while managing the transition of salt-intruded lands to salt-tolerant plants, then eventually tidal marsh.
Coastal Resiliency
TNC is working to identify and prioritize sites where nature-based solutions will enhance coastal resilience in Delaware.
A 2017 study by TNC estimated the resiliency of more than 10,000 coastal sites from Virginia to Maine. Resilient sites, in this case, are defined as those most likely to adapt and continue functioning in the face of sea level rise. In this study, the Delaware Bayshore was highlighted as having many sites with an above-average resilience score. TNC is working to ensure that these coastal sites remain resilient under future climate scenarios by protecting coastal ecosystem migration space and facilitating habitat transition.
Additionally, TNC has recently created the Coastal Resilience Roadmap and Conservation Blueprint, two documents that serve to build awareness and capacity for advancing resilience for both natural habitats and communities.
The Delaware Bayshore Coastal Resilience Roadmap proposes a suite of wide-ranging activities based around four key strategies:
The Delaware Conservation Blueprint was developed by TNC on behalf of the Delaware Land Protection Coalition and identifies Conservation Opportunity Areas to protect critical wildlife habitats with a focus on those at risk from sea level rise.
Policy
TNC engages at the local, state and federal level to support policies aimed at building climate resilience and supporting sustainable, equitable outcomes for people and nature along the Bayshore.
Our advocacy agenda for coastal ecosystems includes the following:
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Support the creation of aggressive climate change policies on the state and local level in Delaware that address rising waters, flooding, carbon capture, green infrastructure and the needs of overburdened populations. Read More
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Work with partners like the Delaware Land Protection Coalition to advance a statewide land conservation strategy that protects additional lands, facilitates marsh migration as sea levels rise, has an equity framework and helps protect Delaware’s iconic species. Learn about the Delaware Land Protection Coalition
Dive Deeper Into Delaware Policy
See how TNC advocates for stronger conservation and coastal resilience statewide.
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