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Benfleet and Southend Marshes
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Essex From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Benfleet and Southend Marshes is an 8.1-square-mile (21 km2) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Essex.[2] It consists of mudflats, salt marshes, scrub and wild grassland, and includes the Southend-on-Sea foreshore. It has been so recognised for its biological (including ecological) value, rather than geological.[3][4] A definition five percent larger forms the Benfleet and Southend Marshes Ramsar site[5] and Special Protection Area.[6][7] In the centre-west, more than ten percent of the Site is the Leigh National Nature Reserve (NNR),[n 1][8][6] which has been appraised in detail in A Nature Conservation Review as a site of national importance.[3] The SSSI and NNR include the eastern half of Two Tree Island, in Leigh on Sea which is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.[8][9] A narrow majority of the Site is the Southend on Sea Foreshore Local Nature Reserve.[n 2][10][11]
The marshes and mudflats have internationally important numbers of wildfowl and wading birds, including the dark-bellied brent goose, grey plover, redshank and red knot. Scarce invertebrates, such as the white-letter hairstreak and marbled white butterfly, have adapted to specific habitats in the marshes.[3]
Major landowners within Benfleet and Southend Marshes SSSI include the Ministry of Defence, Network Rail and Crown Estate.[12]
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