SPA description
(information as published 2001)
Deben Estuary
The Deben Estuary is located on the coast of Suffolk in eastern
England. It extends south-eastwards for over 12 km from the town of
Woodbridge to the sea just north of Felixstowe. It is relatively
narrow and sheltered, and has limited amounts of freshwater input.
The estuary mouth is the narrowest section and is protected by the
presence of shifting sandbanks. The intertidal areas are
constrained by sea walls. The saltmarsh and intertidal mud-flats
that occupy the majority of the site, however, display the most
complete range of saltmarsh community types in Suffolk. The estuary
holds a range of swamp communities that fringe the estuary, and
occasionally form larger stands. In general, these are dominated by
Common Reed Phragmites australis. The estuary is of
importance for its wintering waterbirds, especially Avocet
Recurvirostra avosetta.
Qualifying species
For individual species accounts visit the Species
Accounts section
This site qualifies
under Article 4.1 of the Directive (79/409/EEC) by
supporting populations of European importance of the following
species listed on Annex I of the Directive:
Over winter;
Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, 95 individuals
representing at least 7.5% of the wintering population in Great
Britain (5 year peak mean 1991/2 - 1995/6)
Note:
Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of
a site in these pages does not imply any right of public
access.
Note that sites selected for waterbird species on the basis of
their occurrence in the breeding, passage or winter periods also
provide legal protection for these species when they occur at other
times of the year.