SSSI's

 

 

The Colne Estuary is comparatively short and branching, with five tidal arms which flow into the main river channel. The estuary is of international importance for wintering Brent Geese and Black-tailed Godwit and of national importance for breeding Little Terns and five other species of wintering waders and wildfowl. The variety of habitats which include mudflat, saltmarsh, grazing marsh, sand and shingle spits, disused gravel pits and reed beds, support outstanding assemblages of invertebrates and plants. Two areas of foreshore at East Mersea are of geological importance. Colne Point and St. Osyth Marsh are of geomorphological interest. The Colne estuary SSSI covers some 2900ha.

Wildlife and geological features are under pressure from development, pollution, climate change and unsympathetic land management. SSSI's are important as they support plants and animals that find it more difficult to survive in the wider countryside. England's SSSI's hold some of our rarest and most threatened wildlife.

SSSI’s are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006.

Natural England has a duty to notify SSSI's when it is of the opinion that an area of land is of special interest by reason of its flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features. This opinion is based on the exercise of specialist judgment which is informed by scientific guidelines.

This legislation gives Natural England powers to ensure better protection and management of SSSI's and safeguard their existence into the future.

Click here to view the Colne estuary SSSI citation.

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