Minsmere / Walberswick Marshes
Quick facts
- European Diploma of Protected Areas (code UK940003)
- Since Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 CET 1979
- Country: United Kingdom
- Administrative region: Not available
- Surface area: 9 km2 (935.30 ha)
- Marine area: Not available
Source and more information: Council of Europe
Description
Site contact authorities
| Manager | Geoff Welch Minsmere Reserve Westleton Saxmundham Suffolk IP17 3BY |
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| Information | Royal Society for the Protection of Birds the Lodge Sandy-Bedfordshire SG19 2 DL |
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Description
| General character of the site | Situated on the Suffolk coast, in Eastern England, Minsmere consists of fenland areas which in 1940 were flooded as an anti-invasion measure. In 1962 work commenced on the construction of a 17 hectare shallow lagoon system. Minsmere is the most important bird reserve in the United Kingdom. |
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| Quality | |
| Vulnerability | Introduction of non-indigenous plant and animal species, including Nutria (now exterminated). |
| Designation | |
| Owner | Since 1977, the reserve has been under the full ownership of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedforshire, SG19 2 DL. |
| Documentation | Council of Europe (1980), Minsmere Nature Reserve United Kingdom, Strasbourg, 27p.. |
| Habitat types | |
| Flora | |
| Fauna | |
| Potential vegetation | |
| Geomorphology | Wetland areas range from silt/clay loams near the coast to sandy peat inland. Woodland, heathland + formland lie on a series of buried pebble beaches overlying estuarine shelly sands + deep chalk deposits |
| Educational interest | A field-teaching scheme, run by RSPB teacher-naturalists, operates throughout the year and attracts c 1000 children pa. Courses cover Adaptation, Migration, Habitat Management, and in 1997, a special Avocet topic. The reserve is also used as a demonstration site for habitat, species + visitor management techniques, and as a training site for a range of practical conservation skills. |
| Cultural heritage | The diversity of habitats found on the reserve result from a long history of management by men. Recent acquisition of the grazing marshes included the purchase of the site of the original Leiston Abbey, built in 1182, which is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. |
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| URL official | http://www.disabledbirdersassociation.org.uk/Minsmere.htm |
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