The Wash
- Country:
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Site number:
- 395
- Area:
- 62,212.0 ha
- Designation date:
- 30-03-1988
- Coordinates:
- 52°56'14"N 00°17'13"E
Map
Photos
Overview
The Wash. 30/03/88; England; 62,212 ha; 52°56'N 000°17'E. Special Protection Area EC Directive; Nature Reserve, SSSI, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Local Nature Reserve. A vast intertidal embayment incorporating one of the largest and most important areas of estuarine mudflats, sandbanks and saltmarsh in Britain. Counts of wintering waterbirds reach 320,673 individuals and include nationally and internationally important numbers of numerous species, notably up to 17,000 passerines (perching songbirds). The site is also of outstanding international importance for passage birds, notable waders, and supports various breeding birds, an important shell fishery, and the largest breeding colony in Europe of the seal Phoca vitulina. Adjoining land is used for intensive agriculture, and includes several localized industrial and residential zones. There are few public access points. Ramsar site no. 395. Most recent RIS information: 2007.
Administrative region
England
National legal designation
- bird sanctuary
- nnr
- sssi
Regional (international) legal designations
- EU Natura 2000
Last publication date:
01-01-2007