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West Thurrock Marshes – ‘England’s rainforest’ under threat
The north lagoon of West Thurrock Marshes is home to almost one thousand invertebrates, birds and reptiles. The site is nationally important for rare and endangered invertebrates – only one other site in the UK is known to hold more rare species – and it clearly meets criteria for protection as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is also used as a breeding site by a number of threatened birds, including the skylark, the lapwing and the Little-ringed Plover.
Now Royal Mail are about to develop this extraordinary site. The huge warehouse and lorry park will destroy more than half of the site, leading to a significant, potentially devastating loss of wildlife. Government advisory body Natural England state that ‘the effects [of the development] on the nationally significant invertebrate assemblage could be dramatic’. The destruction of over two thirds of the site’s flower-rich grassland, a critical resource upon which many of the invertebrates depend, will threaten the future of many rare species, including:
• Brown-banded carder bee
Bombus humilis
• Five-banded digger wasp
Cerceris quinquefasciata
• Saltmarsh shortspur beetle
Anisodactylus poeciloides
All of these species are priorities for government conservation action under the UK
Biodiversity Action Plan.
Other species at threat include:
• The Distinguished jumper (
Sitticus distinguendus): a charismatic spider found on only two sites in the UK – both threatened brownfield sites. The spider is on a draft Government biodiversity conservation list that when published will require its protection. Yet the species may be extinct before the list has even been produced.
• Red-shanked bumblebee (
Bombus ruderarius): like the Brown-banded carder bee, this species depends on the large areas of flower-rich grassland, most of which will be destroyed by the development. Both bumblebees have declined massively and are now in a perilous position.
• Despite the Royal Mail Group’s Post OfficeTM advertisements featuring happy ants, the ants on this site will be less amused. The new development will stamp out a population of the rare Hump-backed red ant (
Myrmica bessarabica).
Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation approved the controversial development on 6th November, despite widespread opposition from the local council and nature conservation bodies including Buglife and Essex Wildlife Trust. The Development Corporation – a non-elected body set up by John Prescott – decided that the nationally important wildlife interest of the site should not be allowed to stand in the way of its development.
The site was condemned partly due to its status as a previously-developed or ‘Brownfield’ site. It was once in the grounds of a former power station. Brownfield sites in the Thames estuary have recently been dubbed ‘England’s rainforests’ because of the large populations of endangered wildlife they support. Although government-funded research has shown that a third of brownfield sites in the region are of high importance to nature conservation, brownfield is indescriminately targeted for development by official regeneration policy.
Wildlife campaigners are stunned at the decision to develop West Thurrock Marshes:
‘We are extremely disappointed that this destructive development has been approved. West Thurrock Marshes should clearly be protected for its wildlife and as a resource for local people. Yet the authorities have decided to cash in that green future in favour of short-term economic gain,’ said Matt Shardlow, Director of Buglife.
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Buglife website and sign the petition
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