UK World Heritage Sites by sustainable transport
Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership, with support from World Heritage UK, launched a guide to visiting the UK’s World Heritage…
Read moreTentative Site: East Coast Flyway
The East Coast Flyway is globally important for migratory waterbirds and for its nearly contiguous complex of ecologically connected and immensely variable coastal wetlands.
UK Tentative List
East Coast Flyway
The East Coast Flyway is globally important for migratory waterbirds and for its nearly contiguous complex of ecologically connected and immensely variable coastal wetlands.
These East Coast Wetlands, include many exceptional, extensive and biodiverse habitats located across a range of dramatic and dynamic estuaries as well as open coast ecosystems and support over 155 different bird species most of which migrate internationally along the East Atlantic Flyway (EAF) which extends from the Arctic to South Africa.
The extent and boundary of the proposed Natural World Heritage Site (NWHS) is largely defined by a series of existing protected nature conservation areas, designated for their international importance, including 21 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for avian interest, 21 Ramsar Convention Wetlands of International Importance and 19 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) for habitats and non-avian species, plus six nationally designated Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). These sites are also underpinned by other national designations such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
The area within the proposed boundary contains almost 170,000 hectares (ha) of coastline including large expanses of coastal grazing marsh and c85,000 ha of intertidal including c17,500 ha of saltmarsh habitat, some reedbeds and c67,500 ha of mudflats and sandflats.
-
1/2
-
2/2
Did you know..?
The East Coast wetlands are part of the East Atlantic flyway, one of 8 major routes in the world that are used by migrating birds.
The saltmarshes, mudflats, and seagrasses in the proposed Natural World Heritage Site store vast amounts of carbon. Some 12 million tonnes is likely to be present in the top 1 metre alone. This is equivalent to 11% of the UK’s carbon emissions in 2020. It is estimated that around 50,000 tonnes of carbon are also sequestered by these habitats each year in the proposed Natural World Heritage Site area; this is equivalent to the average yearly carbon emissions from around 120,000 petrol/diesel cars.
Saltmarshes can reduce wave height by around 20% over a 40 m distance, providing an important flood defence function during storms.
Stats
Location: England's East Coast wetlands; from the Humber to the Thames.
Country: England United Kingdom
Year of Inscription:
UNESCO Criteria: (ix) to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; (x) to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.