Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay potential Special Protection Area: outcome

Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are special sites designated under the EU Birds Directive to protect rare, vulnerable and migratory birds.

The proposal for Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay is to create a new Special Protection Area (SPA) by changing the boundary of the existing SPA.

The proposed new boundary will include and protect the ideal coastal feeding waters for breeding colonies within the existing SPA of:

• common tern
• Sandwich tern
• little tern

The existing SPA already protects nationally important populations for the purpose of:

• overwintering:

  • great bittern
  • Bewick’s swan
  • hen harrier
  • golden plover
  • Mediterranean gull

• breeding:

  • marsh harrier
  • avocet
  • common tern
  • little tern
  • Sandwich tern

The site also protects:

• an internationally important migratory population of northern shoveler for overwintering
• a nationally important population of aquatic warbler which use the site as a resting place on their migration route