North Kent Marshes
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Introduction
![[Click for a larger map]](/erdp/images/esasmaps/north_kent_marshes.jpg)
The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) scheme has now closed to new applicants. Defra introduced a new Environmental Stewardship Scheme on 3 March 2005 which supersedes (with enhancements) the ESA and Countryside Stewardship Schemes. These pages are in the process of being updated to reflect the latest information relating to this ESA.
The ESA extends over 13,715 hectares and forms an almost continuous coastal
marshland fringe extending from Whitstable in the east to Gravesend on
the Thames estuary in the west, including the Medway estuary and the Isle
of Sheppey. The marshes are typically two to five kilometres wide but
they broaden on the Hoo peninsula and is bounded on the southern side
of the Isle of Sheppy.
Description
The marshes are a distinctive, exposed, flat landscape of pasture and arable land. Agricultural land predominates, with over half being in grassland. The arable cropping consists mainly of winter-sown cereals and oilseed rape. Most have been enclosed by sea walls (‘inned’) since medieval times to prevent flooding. Beyond the sea wall, mudflats and saltings are common. The ESA is bounded by a belt of higher ‘upland’ which forms a pronounced landscape feature defining the southern boundary. There is considerable archaeological interest in the ESA, ranging from prehistoric sites to medieval salt-working mounds and more recent armament production and defensive sites. Much of the archaeological interest is believed to be buried under the alluvium.
Significant Habitats and Species
The combination of the habitats present are of international importance for over-wintering and breeding birds. Part of the ESA has been designated as a Special Protection Area under the EC Directive on Conservation of Wild Birds (79/409) and as a Wetland of International Importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention. Furthermore, the marshes and associated ditches contain important aquatic flora and fauna and over one third are designated as National Nature Reserves or Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
ESA Management Options
The management options for the different landscape types that can be entered into ESA agreements for the North Kent Marshes are given in the ERDP documents section of this site, under Annex X of the England Rural Development Programme. There are two main management options that land can be entered into:
The first option provides for the extensive management of existing grassland and wet grassland, with restrictions on cultivation, stocking rates and fertiliser and pesticide applications. The management prescriptions also require agreement holders to maintain ditches and other landscape features, such as wing gates. Wet grassland agreement holders are also required to maintain high water levels in ditches through winter and early spring.
The second option requires agreement holders to increase the area of grazing marsh by reverting arable land to extensively managed grassland or to protect the nature conservation interest of the ditches and water courses by establishing grass buffer strips on arable fields.
The Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme (ESA) is now closed to new entrants, however the current level of support will be maintained until the end of the life of the agreements.
Contacts
Mick OliverTel: 01233 811262
Fax: 01233 813004
Olantigh Road
Wye
Ashford
Kent
TN25 5EJ
Page last modified: 26 April, 2006
Page published:
10 December, 2002