Chichester Harbour Conservancy
Chichester Harbour is one of the largest refuges for waterfowl anywhere on the South Coast of England, with more than 50,000 birds being counted most years. The harbour has internationally important numbers of 5 species of wildfowl and waders, and is is nationally important for at least 8 further species.
Chichester Harbour is an Area of Outstanding Natural beauty, and contains a wide variety of habitats, including sand dunes, mudflats, woodland, fresh water, arable, shingle, marshy grassland, saltmarsh, meadows and heathland. There are several islands providing further wildlife habitats, such as Pilsey and Thorney Islands.
The Chichester Harbour Conservancy is the statutory harbour authority for Chichester Harbour with a legal duty to manage the harbour and the surrounding land for the purposes of recreation and leisure, conservation and landscape protection. It has a wide range of powers to control navigation, moorings, works and dredging, as well as to maintain and improve the wildlife value and the landscape.
The Conservancy also manages the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to ensure that it is conserved and enhanced for the enjoyment of all. AONB officers and their staff work with national and local government, environment organisations, landowners and managers and their local businesses and communities to ensure that these unique landscapes and the rare and wonderful wildlife living in them are protected and enhanced.
Wildlife: Harbour seals, Speckled Wood and Peacock butterflies, Water voles and Pipistrelle bats.
Birds of Chichester Harbour: Curlew, redshank, turnstones, shelducks, oyster catchers, godwits, Blacktailed and Bartailed godwits, and dunlin browse the mudflats.
Other pasrts of the harbour contain a huge variety of birds, including snipe, lapwing, knot, Ringed, Grey & Golden plovers, sandpipers, Mute swans, Brent geese, wigeon, pintail, teal, little egret, kingfisher & Hen harrier can all be seen.
Click here to read more about the bird life of Chichester Harbour.
Location & Access: Apart from Chichester itself, there are several villages overlooking parts of the harbour, including Bosham, West Wittering, Birdham, South Hayling, Emsworth & West Itchenor. There are nearly 100 kilometres of footpaths in and around the conservancy. There are several footpaths suitable for wheelchairs.
These maps are intended as a guideline only; you must check the exact location of the reserve yourself. Wildlife Extra assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or usefulness of the information on this website.
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