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 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.
Ingrebourne Valley is a local nature reserve (LNR) in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. It is owned and managed by Havering Council, and has a visitor centre managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Most of it is in Hornchurch Country Park west of the River Ingrebourne, but there are also areas north and south of the park which are part of the LNR. It has a wide range of habitats, including woodland, grassland, the river and marshes. It is an important site for a range of species of plants, animals and birds, including great crested newts, slow worms, the harvest mouse and the water vole.
Dengie nature reserve is a 12 sq. mi. biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between the estuaries of the Blackwater and Crouch near Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex. It is also a National Nature Reserve, a Special Protection Area, a Nature Conservation Review site, a Geological Conservation Review site and a Ramsar site. It is part of the Essex estuaries Special Area of Conservation. An area of 30 acres is the Bradwell Shell Bank nature reserve, which is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
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.
Rye Meads is a 58.5-hectare (145-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Rye House, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. It is one of series of wetlands and reservoirs situated along the River Lea, to the north-east of London. It is part of the Lea Valley Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area.
Roding Valley Meadows is an 18.9-hectare (47-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Buckhurst Hill in Essex. It is part of a 65.2 hectare Local Nature Reserve with the same name, which is owned by Epping Forest District Council and Grange Farm Trust, and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
Hunsdon Mead is a 34 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) west of Harlow and east of Roydon in Essex. The site is partly in Essex and partly in Hertfordshire, and it is jointly owned and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust and the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. The SSSI also includes part of the neighbouring Roydon Mead. The planning authorities are East Hertfordshire District Council and Epping Forest District Council. Hunsdon Mead is registered common land.
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.
Bocking Blackwater is a 13.1 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Braintree in Essex. It is owned and managed by Braintree District Council. In 2016 the council proposed to extend the boundaries of the site.
Hoppit Mead is a 9.2 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Braintree in Essex. It is owned and managed by Braintree District Council.
Fenn Washland is a 4.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve in South Woodham Ferrers in Essex, England. It is owned by Essex County Council and managed by the council as a part of the nearby Marsh Farm Country Park.
Lofts Farm Pit is a 4.5-hectare (11-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Heybridge, a suburb of Maldon in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Brockwell Meadows is a 4.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Kelvedon in Essex. It is owned by Kelevdon Parish Council and managed by the Council together with a group of local residents called the Brockwell Group.
Grove House Wood is a 2.2 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Stanford-le-Hope in Essex. According to Natural England, it is owned by Thurrock Council and managed by Essex Wildlife Trust but it is not listed on the web site of either body.
Home Mead is a 1.8 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Loughton in Essex. It is owned and managed by Epping Forest District Council.
Abbotts Hall Farm is a 282 hectare nature reserve in Great Wigborough in Essex. It is the head office of the Essex Wildlife Trust, which manages the site. It is also part of the Blackwater Estuary National Nature Reserve, Site of Special Scientific Interest, Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation, It is an important archaeological site, and includes a Scheduled Monument, Great Wigborough henge.
Bradwell Shell Bank is a nature reserve on the coast of the Dengie Peninsula near Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Dengie Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area and Ramsar site, and the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation. It is also part of the Blackwater Flats and Marshes, a Grade I site in the Nature Conservation Review.
