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.
Key biodiversity
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Thames Estuary and Marshes. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 26/03/2023.
