UK073
Thames Estuary and Marshes


Country/territory: United Kingdom

IBA Criteria met: A4iii, B1i, B2, C3, C4, C6 (2007)
For more information about IBA criteria please click here

Area: 9,357 ha

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Most recent IBA monitoring assessment
Year of assessment Threat score (pressure) Condition score (state) Action score (response)
2007 medium favourable low
For more information about IBA monitoring please click here


Site description
These marshes extend for about 15 km along the coast on the south side of the Thames, and include areas of the inner Thames up to the Thames barrier. Habitat-types include extensive grazing-marshes, saltmarshes, mudflats and pits. Reed Phragmites and duckweed Lemna dominate the freshwater dykes, with Ceratophyllum in the more brackish dykes. Waders and wildfowl breed on the grazing-marshes, which also attract wintering raptors. The IBA attracts a wide range of wintering and passage estuarine and wetland birds.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Thames Estuary and Marshes. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/03/2023.