Presentation short abstract

New narratives are forming, and practices implemented, regarding wetlands as security buffers for critical infrastructure. Drawing on empirical wetlands-focused fieldwork with elder conservation volunteers this paper examines how elder agency is unwittingly enmeshed within energy-material complexes.

Presentation long abstract

Wetlands’ unruly nature, as dynamic, liminal spaces where earth, water and air meet in flux states, creates paradoxical conservation practices. Their shifting material form means that hegemonic agricultural or developmental processes are incompatible within them; positioning them either as wastelands only useful for ‘drain and reclaim’ approaches, or as sanctuaries for wildlife and biodiversity. New narratives are forming within which wetlands serve as security spaces; their lack of viable on-site infrastructure means they act as buffer zones to adjacent high-risk spaces, offering reduced human presence through complex access routes. In the UK this repositioning of wetlands as sentinel protective waterscapes is evident in the 2022 development of the ‘Somerset Wetlands scheme’, an amalgamation of seven wetland reserves spanning 6000 hectares in western England. These wetlands’ consolidation have mirrored the expansion of the adjoining Hinkley Point C nuclear facility and the nascent expansion of Avonmouth docks as an ‘Enterprise area’ along the strategic River Severn estuary. These wetlands act as both flood barriers to the port, and as water purifiers for the nuclear facility. Yet the physical recreation of the space as a conservation area is mainly left to elder volunteers enacting agency in a post-work phase of their lives. Their unpaid labour enables the securitisation of profit-focused energy and transport behemoths which share the same coastline stretch. This paper explores this wetlands site in more detail, drawing upon empirical interviews with elder conservation volunteers to understand how their care for these wetlands acknowledges, ignores or reframes these ecological power relationships.