the hamble estuary’s nature conservation sites - natural england’s role the hamble estuary...
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The Hamble Estuary’s Nature Conservation Sites - Natural England’s Role
The Hamble Estuary Partnership3rd December 2013
Hilary Crane
Marine Lead Adviser
Overview
• Natural England’s purpose / role
• The designated nature conservation sites of the River Hamble
• Natural England’s work on the River Hamble
– Site monitoring and management
– Conservation Advice
– Casework
• Questions
Natural England’s Role
“To protect and improve England’s natural environment and encourage people to enjoy and get involved in their surroundings.”
• Non-departmental Public Body responsible to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
• We work with farmers, land owners, developers, planning authorities, harbour authorities, other regulatory agencies, scientists / researchers and the general public.
The River Hamble’s Designated Sites
Solent Maritime SAC
• Estuaries
• Intertidal mudflats / sandflats
• Saltmarsh
• Subtidal sandbanks
• Lagoons
• Vegetated shingle
• Sand dunes
• Desmoulin’s whorl snail
The River Hamble’s Designated Sites
Solent & Southampton Water SPA/Ramsar
•Over-wintering birds – Brent Geese, Black-tailed Godwit, Teal and Ringed Plover
•Breeding birds – Mediterranean Gull, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Roseate Tern and Little Tern
•Waterfowl assemblage
•Wetland habitats - lagoons, saltmarshes, estuaries, intertidal flats, shallow coastal waters, grazing marshes, reedbeds, coastal woodland and reefs
•Assemblage of rare plants and invertebrates
The River Hamble’s Designated Sites
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• Mudflats
• Saltmarsh
• Vegetated shingle• Ancient broad-leaved woodland - including
rare Wild Service and Small-leaved Lime
• Coastal grazing marsh
• Reedbeds
• Vegetated shingle
• Heathland • Invertebrates - including Purple Emperor
• Rare coastal plants• Over-wintering birds – Black-tailed Godwit,
Dunlin, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Curlew, Teal, Wigeon and Great Crested Grebe.
Natural England’s Work on the Hamble
Site Monitoring
SSSI condition assessments – Lincegrove & Hacketts Marshes 2013• Unfavourable recovering – good range of saltmarsh species present
including Carex extensa and Sarcocornia perennis, with transition to reedbed or sea couch at the landward edge.
• Threats from diffuse water pollution and smothering from algal mats
Natural England’s Work on the Hamble
Site Monitoring
Solent Maritime SAC
• Survey of subtidal communities in partnership with the Environment Agency
• Estuary characterisation –
o Tidal regime
o Topography - physical form
o Morphology – indicator for anthropogenic changes
• EA’s saltmarsh and macroalgae tools for Water Framework Directive monitoring
Natural England’s Work on the Hamble
Site Management
• Stewardship agreements and advice to land owners
• Solent Diffuse Water Pollution Plan – with EA
• Catchment Sensitive Farming partnership project – capital grants targeting equine holdings in 2014/15
• Working with MMO and SIFCA on management of fisheries within European Marine Sites
Natural England’s Work on the Hamble
Conservation Advice
• Updating Favourable Condition Tables for SSSIso Lincegrove & Hacketts Marshes; Upper
Hamble Estuary and Woods finalised this summer – awaiting QA
o Lee-on-the-Solent to Itchen Estuary – due next year
• Updating our Conservation Advice for European Marine Siteso Solent Maritime SAC – by October 2014o Solent and Southampton Water SPA/Ramsar
– draft by April 2015
Natural England’s Work on the Hamble
Casework
o Natural England is a statutory consultee for many types of licenses and permissions. We provide our advice to the regulators who then determine the application taking account of the relevant nature conservation interests.
o We also provide advice to land owners, developers and other agencies (e.g. Highways, Water companies)
o Individual project assessment and in-combination (cumulative) effects
Questions?