The authority said 40, 000 wildfowl and wading birds migrated to the protected tidal estuary habitats each year.

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The tidal estuary covers an area from Shingle Street to Aldeburgh along the coast and inland to Blaxhall.

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The Delta is a tidal estuary, with changing salinity that has produced a diverse ecosystem including the Delta smelt, a small fish found only there, and the Chinook salmon.

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Located at the thin end of the Thames tidal estuary, it is considered to be one of the cities most under threat from rising sea levels with around 150 square kilometers located below high tide level -- home to more than one million Londoners.

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The massive Severn estuary tidal barrage scheme had been rejected by the coalition government because of its environmental impact, but ministers have indicated they are open to review the idea.

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However, the SDC report concluded that it did not "consider that a large-scale tidal lagoon development in the Severn estuary would offer any environmental or economic advantage over a tidal barrage".

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The beach is part of the Taw-Torridge estuary area, the tidal well above Barnstaple and Bideford.

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In 1966, French President Charles De Gaulle opened the world's first tidal power station at the Rance estuary in Brittany.

CNN: Tuesday,

Work has been taking place to protect tidal salt marshes on the banks of the Severn Estuary from the impact of climate change.

BBC: Work carried out to protect Severn Estuary salt marshes

The estuary's classic funnel shape, unique in the UK, helps give it the third highest tidal range in the world at more than 12m (39ft).

BBC: Welsh estuaries are granted special conservation status