OCEAN, N.C. (WITN) -A North Carolina environmental group has unveiled a five-year plan to protect the state’s salt marshes.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation says the state has one of the largest estuarine systems in the country, with nearly 2.3 million acres of coastal habitat.

The five-year strategy will protect, restore, and allow for the migration of salt marshes along coastal areas, according to the Coastal Federation.

The group says their plan’s key feature is to help develop current and emerging threats to salt marshes, addressing threats to conservation and restoration.

It focuses on three main strategies:

• Advance the conservation and restoration of existing or degraded salt marshes and protect them from current and future threats or stressors.
• Facilitate the creation of new salt marshes through the conservation of migration corridors and the removal of barriers potentially hindering future migration.
• Incorporate cross-cutting approaches for research, monitoring, funding, policy, communication, education, outreach, and community engagement.