In 2002, a 3.5km sea wall was breached in five places at a 283-hectare Essex arable farm; seawater returned to the land, creating new habitat and helping double saltmarsh across the Greater Thames estuary

• A 3.5km stretch of sea wall along the Essex coast was deliberately breached in five places in October 2002.
• This allowed tides to rush into 283 hectares of farmland at Abbotts Hall Farm in Great Wigborough.
• The planned flooding changed an intensively farmed arable site into a thriving coastal wetland.