Orford Ness Information Building Conservation on the Edge pt3 The Shingle DSC01845
The National Trust is in partnership with the RSPB at Havergate Island and is supported by the EU LIFE + Nature & Biodiversity programme. The Nature Reserves are part of the Natura 2000 network of top priority European conservation sites. The site is internationally important, comprising two distinctive landscapes - marsh and shingle.
The shingle spit is one of the largest and finest examples of vegetated shingle in the world and a refuge for wildlife year round.
The rare and fragile ridge & swale structure and plant communities including sea pea and lichens are easily damaged by trampling. Ground-nesting species like the little tern are vulnerable to disturbance.
This dynamic shingle spit has grown to be 10 miles long and has been shaped by the sea for nearly 5000 years. It stretches from Slaughden in the North to North Weir point in the South and is kept away from the mainland by the flow of the River Alde-Ore. The shingle formation and communities that live there are especially rare in the UK and across Europe.
Formation of the Spit.
Longshore drift predominantly moves stones southward along this coast. They are thrown up onto the beach by waves and winter storms move them higher and further. These stabilise over time, with the process repeating itself, building the ridge and valley structure of the spit. Plants are able to colonise the smaller stones that have been thrown to the top of the ridges, resulting in distinctive stripes of vegetation between the rows of larger bare stones.
Coastal vegetated shingle
Vibrant carpets of vegetation including plants such as yellow horned poppy, se kale, sea campion, yellow vetch & lichens cover the shingle ridges. These hardy plants are used to living in a harsh environment but are vilnerable to damage by trampling, as once the structure of the shingle is disturbed it is very unkiely that these plants will recolonise.
Wildlife on the shingle
Birds such as ringed plover, oystercatcher & little tern nest on the ground. Brown hares nestle amongst the stones. A specialised community of smaller wildlife live here too, many of which are scarce in Britain, such as the brown-banded carder bee and a rare money spider.
Access to the shingle is carefully managed with a zoned approach. The birds and animals require nest, breeding and resting sites.
The Ness shelters a number of protected mammals. Otter forage for crabs and fish in creeks and ditches. Water vole nest in holes in the ditch banks. Brown hares nestle in the grass or race along the roads. Harvest mice, Britain's smallest rodent, lives in the long grass and reeds.
British & European laws and international conventions protect wildlife and their habitats. These are underpinned by a series of internationally recognised lists of rare & threatened specie. Areas of the Alde-Ore Estuary are protected by designations under British & EU law, reflecting the importance of its habitats and wildlife. Orford Ness is an important geological site and one of a number of exceptional nature reserves in the estuary.
-Orford Ness Shingle Street Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for the vegetated shingle habitats of the Alde, Ore & Butley Estuaries (SAC) for its coastal lagoons, saltmarsh & mudflats under the EU Habitats Directive,
- Alde-Ore Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Wild Birds Directive for key bird species (Annex 1) and significant numbers and assemblages of other birds.
-The SAC & SPA are part of the Natura 2000 network of sites of European importance, which have attracted EU LIFE funding.
- Alde-Ore Estuary Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.
-Orforde Ness-Havergate National Nature Reserve (NNR) - recognising its status as one of the cream of British nature reserves.
- Part of the Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
- Listed in the Geological Conservation Review (GCR) which forms the basis of statutory geological and geomorphological site conservation in Britain.
Orford Ness Information Building Conservation on the Edge pt3 The Shingle DSC01845
The National Trust is in partnership with the RSPB at Havergate Island and is supported by the EU LIFE + Nature & Biodiversity programme. The Nature Reserves are part of the Natura 2000 network of top priority European conservation sites. The site is internationally important, comprising two distinctive landscapes - marsh and shingle.
The shingle spit is one of the largest and finest examples of vegetated shingle in the world and a refuge for wildlife year round.
The rare and fragile ridge & swale structure and plant communities including sea pea and lichens are easily damaged by trampling. Ground-nesting species like the little tern are vulnerable to disturbance.
This dynamic shingle spit has grown to be 10 miles long and has been shaped by the sea for nearly 5000 years. It stretches from Slaughden in the North to North Weir point in the South and is kept away from the mainland by the flow of the River Alde-Ore. The shingle formation and communities that live there are especially rare in the UK and across Europe.
Formation of the Spit.
Longshore drift predominantly moves stones southward along this coast. They are thrown up onto the beach by waves and winter storms move them higher and further. These stabilise over time, with the process repeating itself, building the ridge and valley structure of the spit. Plants are able to colonise the smaller stones that have been thrown to the top of the ridges, resulting in distinctive stripes of vegetation between the rows of larger bare stones.
Coastal vegetated shingle
Vibrant carpets of vegetation including plants such as yellow horned poppy, se kale, sea campion, yellow vetch & lichens cover the shingle ridges. These hardy plants are used to living in a harsh environment but are vilnerable to damage by trampling, as once the structure of the shingle is disturbed it is very unkiely that these plants will recolonise.
Wildlife on the shingle
Birds such as ringed plover, oystercatcher & little tern nest on the ground. Brown hares nestle amongst the stones. A specialised community of smaller wildlife live here too, many of which are scarce in Britain, such as the brown-banded carder bee and a rare money spider.
Access to the shingle is carefully managed with a zoned approach. The birds and animals require nest, breeding and resting sites.
The Ness shelters a number of protected mammals. Otter forage for crabs and fish in creeks and ditches. Water vole nest in holes in the ditch banks. Brown hares nestle in the grass or race along the roads. Harvest mice, Britain's smallest rodent, lives in the long grass and reeds.
British & European laws and international conventions protect wildlife and their habitats. These are underpinned by a series of internationally recognised lists of rare & threatened specie. Areas of the Alde-Ore Estuary are protected by designations under British & EU law, reflecting the importance of its habitats and wildlife. Orford Ness is an important geological site and one of a number of exceptional nature reserves in the estuary.
-Orford Ness Shingle Street Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for the vegetated shingle habitats of the Alde, Ore & Butley Estuaries (SAC) for its coastal lagoons, saltmarsh & mudflats under the EU Habitats Directive,
- Alde-Ore Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Wild Birds Directive for key bird species (Annex 1) and significant numbers and assemblages of other birds.
-The SAC & SPA are part of the Natura 2000 network of sites of European importance, which have attracted EU LIFE funding.
- Alde-Ore Estuary Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.
-Orforde Ness-Havergate National Nature Reserve (NNR) - recognising its status as one of the cream of British nature reserves.
- Part of the Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
- Listed in the Geological Conservation Review (GCR) which forms the basis of statutory geological and geomorphological site conservation in Britain.