The Nature Conservancy Releases Delaware Bayshore Coastal Resilience Roadmap
A new Coastal Resilience Roadmap outlines strategies for residents, conservation practitioners and agencies.
Media Contacts
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Kathleen McFadden
Media Relations Manager
The Nature Conservancy
Phone: 610-368-7108
Email: k.mcfadden@tnc.org
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Delaware today released its Delaware Bayshore Coastal Resilience Roadmap, which outlines strategies for residents, conservation practitioners and agencies to implement in order to support a more sustainable future for the First State’s coastal habitats and communities.
The roadmap was developed from 2022 to 2024 using TNC’s science-based Conservation by Design framework.
The Roadmap incorporates extensive feedback from Bayshore residents and identifies key strategies based around four main pillars:
Delaware’s coastal areas and residents face an existential threat in the form of sea level rise resulting from climate change. The City of Lewes tidal gauge has already recorded over 13 inches of sea level rise from 1919 to 2016. The Delaware Sea Level Rise Technical Committee predicts an additional 9 to 23 inches of rise by 2050.
As the lowest mean-lying state in the U.S., Delaware is also experiencing some of the highest rates of land sinkage along the Atlantic Coast. On the other hand, previous studies have identified the Bayshore as one of five sites within the northeast U.S. with the highest potential for coastal resilience, which is the degree to which an ecosystem can naturally absorb and adapt to these impacts. This combination of threats and opportunities leaves Delaware’s coastal managers at a crossroads.
For Delawareans, the message is: Make way for water,” said William Helt, Director of Oceans and Coasts for TNC in Delaware and lead author of the roadmap.
Delaware Bayshore Coastal Resilience Roadmap:
A new Coastal Resilience Roadmap outlines strategies for residents, conservation practitioners and agencies to implement in order to support a more sustainable future for the First State.
Quote: Will Helt
Climate forecasts suggest that many coastal areas along the Delaware Bayshore will experience increased flooding. A healthy, resilient Bayshore is one that is well-equipped to address the effects of sea level rise and more frequent, more intense storms caused by climate change.
Notable strategies highlighted in the report include establishing best practices for facilitating marsh migration onto upland habitat; increasing state open space funding to reflect recent increases in real estate values; and increasing investment in nature-based solutions, which is a broad term for conservation projects designed to restore, mimic and/or enhance the function of natural systems while providing environmental benefits.
The roadmap also underscores the value of durable, long-term partnerships and importance of alignment on a conservation vision among coastal communities, local governments, state agencies, environmental organizations and other stakeholders along the Bayshore whose way of life stands to be impacted.
“The Delaware Bayshore holds a proud history of families living, working and recreating along the coast as well as a rich natural beauty thanks to its irreplaceable tidal ecosystems,” said Lori Brennan, Executive Director of TNC in Pennsylvania & Delaware. “This roadmap will help guide conservation conversations going forward, and the decisions we make collectively today will shape the future of Delaware’s landscapes for people and nature tomorrow.”
To read the full Delaware Bayshore coastal resilience roadmap and learn more about TNC’s work in Delaware, please visit nature.org/Delaware.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 81 countries and territories (40 by direct conservation impact and 41 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit nature.org or follow @nature_press on X.