Dee Estuary
Notification 1954 /1984 | | |
Natural England website |
Designations | |
---|---|
Official name | The Dee Estuary |
Designated | 17 July 1985 |
Reference no. | 298[1] |
The Dee Estuary (
.Geology
The estuary is unusual in that comparatively little water occupies so large a basin. One theory is that larger rivers such as the
Conservation
The estuary is a major wildlife area and one of the most important estuaries in Britain, amongst the most important in Europe for its populations of waders and wildfowl. The Environment Agency is the Conservation Authority, and the estuary is protected or listed under several schemes:
- Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
- Special Protection Area (SPA)
- Sensitive Marine Area (SMA)
- Natura 2000 site
- Ramsar site
Large parts of the area are within the
Fishery
The estuary supports some important natural fisheries, including salmon and trout on their way to and from the freshwater river, as well as sea-fisheries and shell-fisheries, especially cockles.
Trade and industry
From earliest times, the Dee estuary was a major trading and military route, to and from
The Dee Estuary was industrialised from quite early on in the
Signs of past industry are visible along the whole length of the estuary especially on the
The Dee estuary also supported industries concerned with the synthesis of PCBs and some pharmaceuticals and was also home to several industrial waste oil-reclamation industries.
As a consequence of its industrial heritage, there are extensive areas of contaminated ground along the shores of the estuary.
The estuary also plays a part in the most modern of industries as it provides the first stage of transport of Airbus A380 wings on their way to Toulouse via barge to Mostyn docks.
References
- "Dee Estuary citation sheet" (PDF). English Nature. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2013.
- ^ "The Dee Estuary". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ a b Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory – Dee Estuary Archived 2008-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Davies et al 2004, Geology of the Country around Flint. memoir of the British Geological Survey, sheet 108 (E&W)
- ISBN 978-1-86077-512-3
- ^ "Galligu". Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2011.