Wildlife of the Tees Valley area
The Tees Valley area has a high concentration of industrial and urbanised areas, particularly around the River Tees. These areas are surrounded predominantly by agricultural land and small rural settlements.
Topography
The topography of the area is varied, ranging from coastal cliffs to upland moorland. Towards the south of the area there are escapements of Jurassic deposits. In the south-east of the area are some of the highest coastal cliffs in England with steep-sided valleys which are cut by fast flowing streams. The banks of these often habour remnants of semi-natural woodland, Around the Tees Estuary the land is low-lying and large areas have been reclaimed for industrial purposes. Further towards the west the soils alongside and around the Tees tend to be rich and used for agriculture. In the north the land is gently undulating, sloping from a magnesium limestone ridge.
Land use
Approximately 62% of the land area within the Tees Valley is given to agricultural land use, with 15% residential and 8% industrial land use. The remaining 15% is composed of a wide range of semi-natural habitats
Natural areas in Tees Valley
Most of the Tees valley area is within “Natural Area 7-The Tees Lowlands” in Natural England’s Natural Area Profile. This defines the main feature of the area and states conservation objectives. The Natural Area Profile reconises a series of sites around the estuary and coast as a Prime Biodiversity area (PBA). A Prime Biodiversity area is “a limited area of countryside which encompasses an aggregation of outstanding sites. This group of sites may be of the same or inter-related habitat types, allowing beneficial concentration of effect in the PBA to maintain the sites and create new conservation opportunities”.
In the Lower Tees Valley Natural Area the PBA comprises the Teesmouth Flats and Marshes complex, including North Gare sands, Seaton Sands, Hartlepool Bay, Seal Sands, Bran Sands, South Gare and Coatham Sands and their associated dune system, Seaton Common, Cowpen Marsh, ICI Brinefields, Saltholme, Dorman’s and Haverton Pools and mud banks along the river.
The industrial heritage of Teesside of ironstone mining, steel production, ship building and later chemical and power industries has left the Tees Valley with “brownfield” sites that are no longer in industrial use. Many of these areas have diverse habitats that are important for wildlife.
The green infrastructure of Tees valley towns, with school grounds, parks and gardens, recreation areas, transport corridors can also, if managed sympathetically provide refuge for wildlife.
The rural areas of the Tees valley are agriculture with semi- natural habitats of woodland, hedgerows and ponds. To the south east of the area woodlands and hedgerows are particularly rich in biodiversity.
