30/12/24 - The Otter Estuary

Sarah Swadling is on the Otter estuary in Devon where the clock has been turned back 200 years to tackle climate change challenges of the present, and of the future. The sea has been allowed back onto farmland that had been reclaimed during the Napoleonic war era. The result is a new salt marsh and mudflat nature reserve. It's hoped letting the estuary return to its natural course will reduce the risk of flooding for homes and businesses. As Sarah hears, the ambitious project also meant raising a road, moving the local cricket club, and making an historic landfill safe. She asks the landowner, Clinton Devon Estates, how they weighed up climate change mitigation against food security, in deciding to flood the farmland.

Produced and presented by Sarah Swadling.