Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Area of Search | Kent & East Sussex |
---|---|
Grid reference | TR069201 |
Coordinates | 50°56′35″N 0°56′46″E / 50.943°N 0.946°ECoordinates: 50°56′35″N 0°56′46″E / 50.943°N 0.946°E |
Interest | Biological and Geological |
Area | 9,090 ha (22,500 acres) |
Notification | 2006 |
Natural England website |
Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest that stretches across two English counties:Kent and East Sussex. It is of both geological and biological interest.
Its geological interest is the geomorphology of Dungeness and Rye Harbour. The area is a cuspate foreland of shingle ridges formed by thousands of years of coastal erosion and accretion.
The biological interest is due to its habitats of salt marsh, saline lagoons, vegetated shingle, sand dunes and ditch systems. These host a wide variety of fauna, some of which is nationally rare. The area also supports large numbers of breeding and non-breeding birds.