Plaice (Credit Dereck Haslam)
Estuaries provide doorways for many creatures, creating corridors that link rivers to the sea.
Providing important feeding grounds for migratory birds and nursery grounds for many marine fish, like plaice.
Located on the Northumberland coast this is one of only two estuaries recommended within the North Sea. Estuaries provide a link between the land and sea and are home to unique communities of life making them of particular importance within the MCZ network.
The Aln has been recommended for a range of habitats including mud, sand, gravel, sheltered muddy gravel, estuarine rocky habitats, saltmarsh and saline reedbed. It is one of the few places within the North Sea supporting seagrass and has significant importance for feeding and roosting birds, including gulls, dunlins and other waders such as redshanks, curlews, snipe and wigeons. Estuaries are also important for juvenile fish. The Aln supports sprat, flounder, sandeel, plaice and European eel.
This recommended Marine Conservation Zone has been put forward for potential designation in 2013, government consultation pending.
We need you to urge Defra to remain committed to designating this site in 2013 and putting in place appropriate management as soon as possible.
This site is proposed for designation in 2013 for three of the habitats found within the site recommended for protection by stakeholders. Defra has deemed that three other habitats recommended by stakeholders require additional data before they can be considered for inclusion in future tranches.
This site contains important intertidal mud habitats as well as coastal saltmarsh and saline reed beds which are considered of national and local significance. These habitats support a wide range of invertebrates and subsequently a number of waders and wildfowl, including redshank and widgeon.
We need you to urge Defra to remain committed to designating this site in 2013 and putting in place appropriate management as soon as possible. Defra has also indicated that they have commissioned additional survey work for this site in 2013. There are also indications that evidence gathered by the Environment Agency over the past four years has not been taken into account. Defra should use this additional evidence as soon as possible to inform the designation of the remaining habitats recommended by stakeholders as soon as possible.
Contains UKHO Law of the Sea data. Crown copyright and database right and contains Ordnance Survey Data Crown copyright and database 2012
Other nearby MCZs
Downloads
| Filename | File size |
|---|---|
| Aln Estuary.pdf | 219.62 KB |