Work has begun on a three-year project to clear scrub and create a mosaic of flower-rich grassland habitats at Canvey Wick nature reserve, giving new hope for the future of one of England’s rarest bumblebees – the Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum) – alongside a range of other threatened species.
The Canvey Wick restoration project was awarded grant funding through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, funded by the UK Government. The programme supports species conservation projects across the country, including targeted habitat improvements for threatened wildlife.
At Canvey Wick, the restoration work is designed to create a diverse mosaic of flower-rich habitat, bare ground, varied natural land features and open conditions that are essential for the Shrill Carder Bee and many other rare species found at former industrial sites.
Through carefully phased scrub management, movement of soil and landscaping, the project will improve habitat quality while protecting important populations of Nightingales, invertebrates, reptiles and other wildlife, ensuring that Canvey Wick remains one of the UK’s most important biodiversity sites.
The rare and declining Shrill Carder Bee is a bumblebee species recognised by its distinctive high-pitched buzz and warm straw colouring. It depends on flower-rich habitats that provide nectar and pollen throughout the summer and benefits from warm, open landscapes with a mixture of flowering vegetation and disturbed ground patches, by things such as livestock grazing. This disturbance allows seeds to set and non-grass plants to grow. Once widespread across southern England and parts of Wales and a common sight and sound of summer, the Thames Estuary is now the remaining stronghold for this bumblebee in England. The loss of wildflower meadows is a key factor in this decline.
Jamie Robins, Buglife Programmes Manager says:
“The Shrill Carder Bee is one of our most threatened bumblebees, so we’re delighted to see this much-needed restoration work take place to restore flower-rich habitats at Canvey Wick, which has long been considered a vital refuge for the species in the Thames Estuary.”
Sam Jones, Countryside & Greenspace Officer South & West for The Land Trust adds:
“This project highlights the strength of collaboration, bringing together partners with a shared ambition to protect and enhance nationally important habitat for the Shrill Carder Bee at Canvey Wick. Through a combination of expertise, resources and a collective commitment to nature recovery, this partnership will help safeguard one of the UK’s rarest bumblebees while creating lasting benefits for wildlife and biodiversity across the site.”
The nationally special wildlife site of Canvey Wick SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) is one of the UK’s most important wildlife sites for rare invertebrates, alongside being the first brownfield site to be designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest specifically for its insects in 2005. The site is also recognised for its exceptional diversity of invertebrates, associated with brownfield habitats with over 30 Red-listed species.
While Marc Outten, Site Manager at Canvey Wick comments on this:
“Being involved in the Species Recovery Programme funded at Canvey Wick is incredibly rewarding, giving us a real opportunity to secure the future of one of the UK’s rarest bumblebees, the Shrill Carder Bee. This project will be innovative and bold in its approach, furthering our knowledge of how to manage this special brownfield SSSI for the species for which it is incredibly important.”
In the 1970s, Canvey Wick – former grazing marsh – started being developed for a proposed oil refinery. The land was raised using sandy dredged material from the Thames, but the refinery was never completed. Over time, this created a unique mosaic of flower-rich grassland, bare ground consisting of both sands and clays, wetlands and scrub, providing ideal habitats for wildlife. Scrub and dense vegetation gradually spread across the site, reducing the extent of open habitat, flower-rich grassland and bare ground.
Without management, these changes can make the site less suitable for Shrill Carder Bees and many other specialist species. In order to support many of the rare invertebrates at Canvey Wick, flower-rich mosaic habitats need to be restored and created through a programme of scrub clearance and management. The restoration project aims to maintain and recreate the open, varied habitat conditions that make Canvey Wick such an important wildlife site.
During the first year, scrub will be cut to ground level. This will open habitat and reduce shading while leaving root systems undisturbed.
During the second year, roots and stumps will be removed, and soil inversion will be undertaken. This phase will create the bare ground and low-fertility conditions needed to support wildflowers and specialist brownfield species.
During the third year, land-forming works will create a varied topography with banks, slopes and hollows. This will increase habitat diversity, create a wider range of microclimates and make the restored habitat easier to manage in the future.
Many of the rare invertebrates found at Canvey Wick, including the Shrill Carder Bee, thrive in warm, open conditions where flowering plants are abundant. Scrub removal helps maintain these conditions and prevents the loss of valuable habitat. The objective of the project is not to remove all scrub from the site. Scattered scrub of varying ages provides important habitat for several species, particularly breeding birds. The restoration programme is designed to retain areas of valuable scrub while reducing scrub cover in locations where it is restricting the development of flower-rich grassland, bare ground and other early-successional habitats. Maintaining a mosaic of habitat types helps ensure that Canvey Wick continues to support a wide range of wildlife.
Main image credit: Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum) © Steven Falk