Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Kent |
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Grid reference | TR 283 696 [1] |
Interest | Biological Geological |
Area | 816.9 hectares (2,019 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1990 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Designations | |
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Official name | Thanet Coast & Sandwich Bay |
Designated | 28 July 1994 |
Reference no. | 664 [2] |
Thanet Coast is an 816.9-hectare (2,019-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the coast between Whitstable and Ramsgate in Kent. [1] [3] It is a Geological Conservation Review site, [4] and overlaps two Special Area of Conservations. [5] [6] It is also part of a Ramsar Site [7] and a Special Protection Area. [8] Part of it is a Local Nature Reserve, [9]
This site has unstable cliffs and foreshore, saltmarsh, lagoons, woodland and grassland. It has internationally important numbers of wintering birds and three nationally rare invertebrates. It is also an important Palaeocene site and paleobotanical locality. [10]
Natural England divides the Site of Special Scientific Interest into units. The Church Commissioners own some of the land on which unit 10, unit 11 and unit 12 are situated [11]
Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve our natural spaces" and to "ensure that 30% of Kent and Medway – land and sea – is managed to create a healthy place for wildlife to flourish". In 2016 it had thirty-one thousand members and an annual income of £4 million. KWT manages over sixty-five nature reserves, of which twenty-four are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, two are national nature reserves, nine are Nature Conservation Review sites, seven are Special Areas of Conservation, three are Special Protection Areas, seven are local nature reserves, one is a Geological Conservation Review site, thirteen are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and one is a scheduled monument.
The Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT) is a conservation charity which aims to protect natural life in Sussex. It was founded in 1961 and is one of 46 wildlife trusts across the UK and the Isle of Man and Alderney. As of 2019, it has 33,000 members and manages 2,000 hectares of land for nature. It is a registered charity and in the year to 31 March 2019 it had an income of £5.7 million and expenditure of £4 million, resulting in net income of £1.7 million.
Sandwich Bay is a long sweeping inlet of the sea between Ramsgate and Deal, on the east coast of Kent, England. The coastal area consists of sand flats with their associated salt marshes and coastal sand dunes. The Sandwich Flats stretch for about five miles (8 km) along the coast. The coastal habitats are of high ecological importance.
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.
Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay is a 10,172.9-hectare (25,138-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from New Romney in Kent to Winchelsea in East Sussex. An area of 5,129.5 hectares is a Special Protection Area, an area of 3,141.1 hectares is a Special Area of Conservation, and an area of 6,377.6 hectares is a Ramsar Site, a wetland site designated of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Part of the site is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, parts are Geological Conservation Review sites, part is a Local Nature Reserve, and part is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve, and part is a National Nature Reserve.
Alde–Ore Estuary is a 2,534 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the Suffolk coast between Aldeburgh and Bawdsey, and also includes parts of the Alde, Ore and Butley Rivers. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is a Grade I Nature Conservation Review site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It includes two Geological Conservation Review sites, "Orfordness and Shingle Street" and "The Cliff, Gedgrave", and two nature reserves managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Alde Mudflats and Simpson's Saltings. The coastal part of the site is Orfordness-Havergate, a National Nature Reserve, and Orford Ness is managed by the National Trust, while Havergate Island is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Folkestone Warren is a 316.3-hectare (782-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which runs along the coast between Folkestone and Dover in Kent. It is a Nature Conservation Review site and it contains three Geological Conservation Review sites and part of a fourth. An area of 83.6 hectares is a Local Nature Reserve,
Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes is a 1,790.1-hectare (4,423-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches between Deal and Sandwich in Kent. It includes two Geological Conservation Review sites, and most of it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. Part of it is a Ramsar site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area and a National Nature Reserve, It also includes a Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserve and a Local Nature Reserve,
Bishopstone Cliffs is a 67.4-hectare (167-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Reculver on the eastern outskirts of Herne Bay, Kent. It is owned and managed by Canterbury City Council. It is part of Thanet Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay Ramsar site and Special Protection Area.
Prince's Beachlands is a 6-hectare (15-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Sandwich in Kent. It is owned by Dover Town Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust as part of the Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes nature reserve. It is part of the Sandwich and Pegwell Bay Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay Ramsar site, Sandwich Bay Special Area of Conservation, Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay Special Protection Area and Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Sandwich and Pegwell Bay is a 615-hectare (1,520-acre) nature reserve in Kent, managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is a National Nature Reserve, and it includes a Geological Conservation Review site, Prince's Beachlands Local Nature Reserve and two Special Areas of Conservation, Sandwich Bay and Thanet Coast. It is part of Sandwich Bay and Thanet Coast Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. It is also of Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest and Sandwich/Pegwell Bay Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.
Lee-on-The Solent to Itchen Estuary is a 585.9-hectare (1,448-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the coast between Southampton and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation. Three areas are Local Nature Reserves, Chessel Bay, Hook with Warsash and Mercury Marshes. One area is Hamble Common Camp, a Scheduled Monument.
Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes is a 738-hectare (1,820-acre) nature reserve which stretches from Keyhaven along the south coast across the Lymington River in Hampshire. It is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. Some areas are part of two Special Areas of Conservation, Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons and Solent Maritime and Solent. It is also part of Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and of North Solent Marshes Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2. Two areas are Geological Conservation Review sites, and two are Local Nature Reserves, Boldre Foreshore and Lymington-Keyhaven Marshes.