The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts which cover the United Kingdom. The EWT was founded in 1959, and it describes itself as Essex's leading conservation charity, which aims to protect wildlife for the future and the people of the county. As of January 2017, it has over 34,000 members and runs 87 nature reserves, 2 nature parks and 11 visitor centres.
The River Fal flows through Cornwall, England, rising at Pentevale on Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and St Mawes as well as Trelissick Garden. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of Cornwall. Like most of its kind on the south coast of Cornwall and Devon, the Fal estuary is a classic ria, or drowned river valley. The Fal estuary from Tregony to the Truro River was originally called Hafaraell.
The Swale is a tidal channel of the Thames estuary that separates the Isle of Sheppey from the rest of Kent. On its banks is a 6,509.4-hectare (16,085-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Sittingbourne to Whitstable in Kent. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Parts of it are a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, National Nature Reserves, a Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserve and a Local Nature Reserve.
The River Yar on the Isle of Wight, England, rises near the beach at Freshwater Bay, on the south coast, and flows only a few miles north to Yarmouth where it meets the Solent. Most of the river is a tidal estuary. Its headwaters have been truncated by erosion of the south coast.
The Blackwater Estuary is the estuary of the River Blackwater between Maldon and West Mersea in Essex. It is a 5,538 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). An area of 4,395 hectares is also designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, and a Special Protection Area 1,099 hectares is a National Nature Reserve. Tollesbury Wick and part of Abbotts Hall Farm, both nature reserve managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, are in the SSSI.
Rainham Marshes is an RSPB nature reserve in the east of London, adjacent to the Thames Estuary in Purfleet, Thurrock and the London Borough of Havering. In 2000, the area of land was bought from the Ministry of Defence, who used it as a test firing range. With no activity for several years, the nature reserve was officially opened to the public in 2006. It has maintained much of its medieval landscape, and is the largest area of wetland on the upper parts of the Thames Estuary.
Deben Estuary is a 981.1-hectare (2,424-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering the River Deben and its banks 12 kilometres from its mouth north of Felixstowe to Woodbridge in Suffolk. It is a Ramsar internationally important wetland site and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It is also in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It partly overlaps two geological SSSIs, Ferry Cliff, Sutton and Ramsholt Cliff.
Yantlet Creek is the creek draining into the River Thames that separated the Isle of Grain from the Hoo peninsula. It once connected the River Medway with the River Thames and made the Isle of Grain a true island. The creek silted up and now drains the area of The Isle of Grain and Allhallows Marshes. A monument known as the London Stone is located at its mouth and marks the limit of the City of London's ownership of the Thames.
Ingrebourne Marshes are a 74.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. Ingrebourne Valley Local Nature Reserve includes a small part of the SSSI west of the River Ingrebourne. The site is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust
North Walney Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve on Walney Island, England. The reserve, which has an area of 646.5 ha, is notable as a habitat of natterjack toads. It is one of the sites in the Duddon Estuary which support one-fifth of the national population of the rare amphibian.
The Crouch and Roach Estuaries are a 1729 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at the mouth of the Crouch and Roach rivers in Essex. The Crouch part of the SSSI stretches from near Battlesbridge to Foulness Island, and the Roach from Rochford to the junction with the Crouch. Part of the site is in the Mid-Essex Coast Special Protection Area under the EC Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and a Ramsar wetland site of international importance. It is also part of the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation. An area of 65 hectares is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust as the Lion Creek and Lower Raypits nature reserve and 8 hectares at Woodham Fen, both of which are managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. A small area is also a geological SSSI, The Cliff, Burnham-on-Crouch.
Foulness SSSI is a 10,702 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest covering the shoreline between Southend-on-Sea and the Crouch estuary in Essex.
Mucking Flats and Marshes is a 311.6 biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Tilbury in Essex. It is part of the Thames Estuary and Marshes Ramsar site. and Special Protection Area
West Thurrock Lagoon and Marshes is a 66.1-hectare (163-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in West Thurrock in Essex.
Lion Creek and Lower Raypits is a 65.2 hectare nature reserve east of Canewdon in Essex. It is part of the Crouch and Roach Estuaries Site of Special Scientific Interest, and is owned and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
Medway Estuary and Marshes is a 4,748.8-hectare (11,735-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the banks of the River Medway between Gillingham and Sheerness in Kent. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
South Thames Estuary and Marshes is a 5,289-hectare (13,070-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches between Gravesend and the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. Part of it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve. It is part of the Thames Estuary and Marshes Ramsar internationally important wetland site and Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
Eelmoor Marsh is a 66.3-hectare (164-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Fleet and Farnborough in Hampshire. It is part of Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area for the conservation of wild birds.
Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary is a 1,077.3-hectare (2,662-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Lymington in Hampshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site and two areas are Geological Conservation Review sites. Three areas are local nature reserves, Boldre Foreshore, Sturt Pond and Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes; the latter site is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Part of it is North Solent National Nature Reserve. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. Parts of it are in Solent Maritime and Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons Special Areas of Conservation.
