Canvey Island may not be the first place to spring to mind when thinking of rare wildlife, but a brownfield site on the island has been found to be one of the best places in Britain for endangered invertebrates. That place is Canvey Wick.
Described as “a little brownfield rainforest” by Natural England officer Dr Chris Gibson, the results of surveys have shown Canvey Wick to have “more biodiversity per square foot than any other site in the UK”. This nature reserve was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on 11 February 2005 – the first brownfield site to be protected specifically for its invertebrates.
Reserve open at all times; car park gates open from 9.00am until 5.00pm
Height restriction of 2.1m.
Facilities available at Wat Tyler Country Park or Morrisons Supermarket, Northwick Road
All trail paths are 50% hard standing and 50% grass; these can be wet and muddy under foot during winter months. The paths are at their narrowest point, 1.5m wide. The paths are pushchair friendly, and there is no seating.
Registered dogs are welcome on a short lead.
Northwick Road,
Canvey Island,
Essex,
SS8 0LD
The site was originally grazing marsh and was then partially developed in the 1960s as an oil refinery when the marsh was filled with two to three metres of river dredging. This material is varied in size resulting in silty, sandy and gravely areas rich in shell fragments. Whilst roads and other infrastructure were built, the refinery was never brought into operation.
All of this has left an area which is very varied in structure with wet reedy areas, marshy floods, ditches, ponds, sallow carr, bramble patches, sparsely vegetated gravels, sandy banks, dry grassland, wet grassland and bare concrete. This has meant that the abandoned site has over the last 40 years evolved into an ecologically rich site with one of the most rich and rarity-dominated populations of insects in the UK.
RSPB looks after the site on a day-to-day basis
RSPB Ranger – Steven Roach
Email: steven.roach@rspb.org.uk
Tel: 01268 498620
