Biodiversity

Essex County Council's country parks support a rich mixture of wildlife including numerous rare species and endangered habitats. It is important that these species and habitats are conserved.

Part of the attraction of visiting a Country Park is the variety of plants and animals that you may see. Parks such as Belhus, Danbury, Thorndon and Weald are havens for old, gnarled trees and the rare beetles that like to live in the rotting wood of their large trunks.

The costal and estuary sites of Cudmore Grove, Hadleigh, and Marsh Farm have internationally important salt marshes and grazing marshes for wading birds and rare costal plants.

The spread of country parks across the county means that the parks cover the spectrum of soil types in Essex derived from sandy gravels, heavy London Clay, boulder clay, silts and river deposits and even a small patch of chalk. Each soil type supports its own special community of flowers, shrubs and trees that prefer to grow in those conditions.

By visiting the country parks around Essex you can experience many of the County's characteristic plants and animals, including some very special ones if you're lucky! Read our wildlife articles for more information about some of our favourites and how we look after them.

Essex Biodiversity Project