Canvey Wick: the Essex oasis home to more than 3,200 species - Buglife

• Canvey Wick on the Thames Estuary has recorded more than 3,200 species of invertebrates, birds and plants. It was the first brownfield site to be protected specifically for invertebrates and given SSSI status in 2005.
• Originally the site of a proposed oil refinery before being left abandoned for 30 years, habitat efforts have helped maintain the brownfield site as a flower-rich grassland that supports rare invertebrate species such as the Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum), with the number of Nightingales also increasing in recent years.
• As the UK’s wildlife faces declines, Canvey Wick is a shining example of how brownfield sites can be rich in, and deliver for, nature. With the right management, these spaces can be thriving biodiversity hotspots and challenge the conventional idea of what nature reserves should look like.

Canvey Wick is a 93-hectare brownfield Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Essex. Twenty years on from gaining special protection, the site has now recorded more than 3,200 species. This total includes species recorded in the early 2000s that helped secure the designation. Thanks to the combined efforts of the RSPB reserve team, volunteers, local wildlife recorders, partners at Buglife and land owners, the Land Trust, this “brownfield oasis” is now home to some of the UK’s most threatened invertebrates and a growing number of Nightingales.

The site was historically used as grazing marshes in the 1970s before being prepared for development as a potential oil refinery. Whilst this was eventually abandoned, initial site works involved covering and raising the grazing marsh with sediment from the Thames. The resulting habitat found there today has formed an open mosaic of flower rich grassland – perfect for invertebrates. Canvey Wick is managed by the RSPB in partnership with Buglife on behalf of national land management charity the Land Trust.

Of the 3,200 species recorded, 11.7% are considered rare, scarce, threatened or near threatened. This includes the Shrill Carder Bee, which gets its name from the high-pitched buzz made when flying. Their pale straw colour, distinctive black band on the thorax and orange tail gives this dainty bumblebee a unique appearance. Its UK population has seen steep declines due to loss of suitable flower-rich habitat and is now restricted to a handful of locations. This includes along the Thames Estuary such as at Canvey Wick, the South Wales coast and Somerset Levels. As a priority species for the RSPB, the protected brownfield site has offered the bee a lifeline.