Parts of Britain may be sacrificed to the sea after December’s tidal surge and continued heavy flooding.
The surge was the worst in 60 years and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from their homes.
The Environment Agency, charged with protecting the coastline, said parts of east Anglia might never be reclaimed from the sea.
The Agency, together with over environment bodies, is considering if any areas should now be left for wildlife, and if any compromised flood defences should be reinstated or abandoned.
Some areas, especially those around Brancaster, Blakeney and Salthouse in north Norfolk, and other parts of Suffolk, might now not be protected against future floods. Some 373 acres of land are still under water, the agency said.
The Agency’s recommendations will not be made for some months, but it could result in a permanent alteration of Britain’s coastline.
It did stress that its priority would always be to protect people and property from floods and that both emergency and temporary measures have been put in place.
Environmental campaigners said it would be a disaster to lose the freshwater environment, where birds flock each year to breed and which attracts thousands of tourists.
A spokesman for the RSPB said: “Where freshwater habitats may be lost to future storm surge events, the RSPB, along with others, is stepping up its efforts to create new freshwater nature reserves inland to ensure the wildlife dependent on habitats like these is not lost forever.”
