Strategy Area Description

This document describes the South of Tyne and Wear Local Nature Recovery Strategy Area, which encompasses the local authority areas of Gateshead, South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland.

The description forms an integral part of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, providing an overview of the physical, geographical and ecological complexion of the area.  In accordance with paragraph 36 of The Environment (Local Nature Recovery Strategy) Regulations 2023, the Strategy Area description is formulated so as to inform the setting of priorities for the recovery, or enhancement of biodiversity, across the Strategy's geographical remit, helping to highlight where the opportunities for nature recovery may lie.

Accordingly, the description includes a consideration of:

• the range and distribution of habitats across the Strategy Area, with an emphasis on priority habitats, giving examples of these, including those that support scarce or declining species
• habitat distribution and extent, and a recognition that some of these habitats may have been lost or reduced in quality over recent decades
• species, and species groups, for which the Strategy Area is of national and/or regional importance
• how future pressures, such as the changes consequent to climate change might affect the scale of species' populations, the distribution of some species and the quality of the Strategy Area's different habitats

As well as habitat and biodiversity detail, the Area Description contains information about the area's:

• history
• geology
• topography
• rivers
• soils
• agriculture
• human geography
• population and settlement patterns
• industrial heritage and legacy

Overview of the strategy area

The strategy area is located in the north east of England, on the eastern side of the narrowest point of mainland England, adjacent to the North Sea. It comprises the southern part of Tyne and Wear, south of the river Tyne, from the western most point of Gateshead, east to the North Sea coast and south to the southernmost extremity of the City of Sunderland. To its north lies Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside, on its southern limit, it borders County Durham, with Northumberland to the west and the North Sea to the east. The central point (in Gateshead) is situated at 'approximately', latitude: 54 degrees, 56 minutes north; longitude: 1 degree, 34 minutes west.

The strategy area is described in three National Character Area descriptions that relate to it - 'Tyne and Wear Lowlands'; 'Durham Coalfield Pennine Fringe'; and, 'Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau'. A fourth, 'Tyne Gap and Hadrian's Wall', relates to a small area of land in the western most part of the area along the Tyne valley.

The eastern boundary of the strategy area is formed by the coastline, from the mouth of the river Tyne in South Tyneside, south to the mouth of Ryhope Dene in City of Sunderland.  Its northern edge is the River Tyne from South Shields, in the east, to near Wylam in the west.

The western boundary runs south along the Stanley, Clinty and Milkwell burns, via eastward sweeping bulges, south towards Easington Lane, before extending north and eastwards to Burdon, and the coast.

At its greatest extent, from the South Groyne at South Shields in South Tyneside to the southernmost limit of the City of Sunderland it is 24.3 km, north to south. At its widest point, between Milkwellburn in Gateshead and Souter Point in South Tyneside, it is just under 32km. It covers an area of almost 344 square kilometres.

Despite its relatively small size, the strategy area has a varied topography. From the coast, along deeply incised river valleys, to inland locations where the land rises steeply, to the west of the Team valley, on to fells with a flavour of the uplands. Within this landscape, it has a relatively large resident population and a long industrial history.

It contains large urban areas that are centred upon the main river corridors. Away from these, much of the strategy area's lowland landscape might be considered rather featureless. Many parts of it, even those not built up, have been heavily influenced by human activity; much of the rest is farmed.

The strategy area's land uses are mixed. These are, in terms of the land area they cover (in descending order): urban, agricultural, industrial and, semi-natural habitats, which, in the west, include some large areas of woodland. The agricultural landscape is largely open, divided by small hedges. Interspersed into this are small pockets of conifer plantations or mixed deciduous woodland.

Despite its largely urban character, the strategy area has areas of 'unspoilt countryside' and is home to a variety of wildlife-rich habitats. These include ancient semi-natural woodland, permanent pastures and hay meadows, magnesian limestone grassland, flushed grassland, acid grassland, lowland heathland, coastal habitats, saltmarsh, rivers, streams, ponds and reedbeds. This habitat complexity is a product of the area's varied geology, its axial and boundary features (that is, the rivers Tyne and Wear) and its position on the North Sea.

The strategy area clearly displays the evidence of its industrial past, in particular the enormous influence of coal mining. Through history, the extraction and trading of coal has been of great importance to the region, shaping the lives of its people and, very often, its landscape.

'History' of the strategy area

The three metropolitan council areas of Gateshead, South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland that form the strategy area were created in 1974 as part of the Metropolitan County of Tyne and Wear.

Human history: Landscape and biodiversity

The first significant human impacts upon the north east of England's landscapes and habitats occurred around 7,000-8,000 years ago, in the Mesolithic period.

The early hunter-gatherers left middens containing remnants of their diet, foraged in the landscape. An 'old sea cave' at 'Whitburn Lizard' (South Tyneside) held the remains of the extinct great auk, suggesting that species was common enough along the coastline, to be hunted, 2,000-3,000 years ago.

By 2,500 BC agriculture had become the dominant way of life with resultant impacts. From this time onwards, man was a major shaping force upon the landscape, flora and fauna of the strategy area. The wheeled plough arrived with the Romans, leading to increased grain production and the establishment of significant Roman settlements, for example Arbeia at South Shields.

The strategy area was once part of Durham, one of the three English 'counties palatine'. In these, the Prince Bishop acted as 'regional sovereign', wielding huge power, deciding how land was managed and where animals were hunted, for example in the 'forest' of Winlaton above the Derwent valley, in Gateshead.

For nearly 800 years, coal mining was a major economic driver and landscape shaper across the strategy area. By the late 13^th century, coal was being shipped out of the river Tyne and in the early modern period, the amount of coal passing down this river was measured in hundreds of thousands of tons per annum.

In the 10^th and 11^th centuries, the Derwent valley woodlands were cropped to provide timber for the construction of Durham Cathedral. In 1294, Edward I requisitioned wood for warships; Tyne shipwrights obtaining oak from Chopwell in the Derwent valley. Centuries afterwards, Charles I repeated the exercise, taking timber for ship-building from the Crown Estates of 'Choople Woods', in June 1635.

At South Shields, salt manufacture was a major industry from the 13th century. By 1696 there were 143 salt-pans at 'Shields', but subsequent decline meant this trade had ceased by the end of the 19^th century.

In the early days of habitation, local foraging helped determine the pattern of settlements, which were often located close to rivers that provided fresh water, fishing and hunting opportunities. Salmon fisheries are well documented along the Tyne, such as at Blaydon and Ryton in Gateshead.

There was relatively little change in the farming footprint of the area between the first agriculturists and the Agricultural Revolution of the late 18^th century. At this time, the effects of 'enclosure' began to manifest themselves, leading to a large increase in the length of hedgerows and associated copses. The lowland landscape pattern laid out at that time largely remains recognisable today.

From the late 17^th century, with the commencement of the Industrial Revolution, man's activities began to have greater landscape impacts, for example with the development of 'engineered features'. This commenced with the creation of a network of wagon ways, which laid the blueprint for the later rail network. This process produced features that remain in the modern landscape, such as deep cuttings (for example at Lockhaugh, on the Derwent Walk, Gateshead), embankments (the Harton Mineral Line, in South Tyneside) and viaducts (The Victoria Viaduct, at Washington, City of Sunderland).

As industrial wealth accrued, through the 18^th and 19^th centuries, rich landowners established major estates in the strategy area, such as at Gibside and Ravensworth (Gateshead).

As time progressed, the major engineering of land took on new facets, with new impacts on wildlife. For example, the Tyne Improvement Act (1861) brought about a reconfiguration of the river, to serve industrial growth. Prior to this, the Tyne had been a relatively shallow river but by 1866, 5.2 million tons of material had been removed, transforming its geography. In 1885, at Dunston, the '30-acre island', Kings Meadows, the largest of the 'Clarence Islands', was dredged away.

Through time, the strategy area's rivers became more polluted. Water pollution from human effluent grew through the 19^th century but it was not until 1920, that Tyne estuary readings of oxygen fell to zero. The river's water quality remained poor for much of the 20^th century, with consequent impacts on its ecology. It was not until the 1970s that these issues began to be seriously addressed.

As early as the mid-17^th century, coal ships entering the Tyne were dumping ballast onto the 300 acre expanse of mudflats at the Don's mouth, South Tyneside, 'a parcel of Land or Waste on the River Tyne, called Jarrow Slike', a rich area for wildlife.  By 1882, John Hancock was of the opinion that Jarrow Slake had been 'in great measure destroyed as a resort of wildfowl'.

Through the 19^th century and early 20^th century, urban spread, particularly around the mouths of the Tyne and the Wear, merged smaller settlements into urbanised zones. The creation of conurbations left less room for wildlife, as green spaces and habitats between settlements were lost.

In the wider landscape, post Second World War, the intensification of agriculture brought new challenges for wildlife. The mechanisation of farm work, led to the loss of many important open-county features such as ponds, hedges, rough and uncultivated field corners, bringing impacts for birds and other wildlife.

A measure of these changes is shown, in microcosm, by the alteration to the Strategy Area's coastal strip. In the early 20^th century, coastal fields stretched, uninterrupted, from South Shields to Marsden Village and beyond, to Sunderland; a mixture of pasture, barley, kale and turnip fields, where lapwings, skylarks and grey partridge nested. Corn buntings, yellowhammers and linnets were plentiful, singing from the hedgerows and limestone walls marking out the fields. Migrant birds were attracted to winter stubble fields, joining flocks of buntings and finches. In little time this diversity was lost, at both a small and grand scale.

The widespread adoption of persistent pesticides and herbicides through the 1950s and early 1960s had a hugely adverse effect on some birdlife; the now common again sparrowhawk, at that time, almost disappeared from much of the strategy area.

As the North East's industrial fortunes waned, in the late 20th century, derelict industrial sites, which once produced pollution that damaged wildlife now offered opportunities for it to exploit. Through time, such sites became plentiful and many became havens for wildlife. Shibdon Pond, in Gateshead, once an armaments dump, part of a colliery, bounded by railways, and finally, a site earmarked as a local authority refuse tip, was saved and is now a nature reserve.

Many of the area's older settlements close to the Wear and the Tyne, were established for defensive (on The Lawe in South Tyneside) or resourcing reasons (water and provisioning).  These spread and, ultimately, coalesced. Later on, such settlements were often focussed on a colliery, as at Clara Vale and Marley Hill in Gateshead, or a clay pit and brickworks for example at Kibblesworth, in the Team valley. Across the Area countless small sandstone quarries were developed, where that resource was accessible, to provide local building stone; most of these are, now, long since gone, as working sites.

A significant development during the second half of the 20^th century were the processes that led to the founding of the Northumberland and Durham Naturalists' Trust in the early 1960s. In 1971 this became two separate wildlife trusts for Durham and Northumberland, with the consequent establishment of nature reserves across the strategy area.

Settlement patterns

Today, the strategy area is dominated by the conurbations, with significant urban developments along the Wear, Tyne and Team valleys, and at the mouths of the main rivers. These comprise many constructed, features including bridges, roads, factories and shopping centres and, not least in terms of area coverage, the houses in which people live.

From the Industrial Revolution onwards, the area's small settlements, established near to growing industries, grew and coalesced into large urban centres. Today, between these, there remain areas of agricultural land and greenbelt.

Some of the western parts of the strategy area, for example the lower Derwent valley and some of the more westerly parts of the Wear valley, have a more rural feel. In some places, the area's landscape is one of scattered small towns and villages surrounded by farmland and woodland, for example in the lower Derwent valley.

Urban centres

The City of Sunderland, on the North Sea, sits on a low range of limestone hills running parallel to the coast. The city is divided by the river Wear, which flows along a deeply incised valley and is crossed by famous Queen Alexandra and Wear bridges. To the south west of the city, one of the strategy area's major landscape features, Penshaw Monument, stands.

Along the south shore of the river Tyne, Hebburn, Jarrow and South Shields, form South Tyneside's main urban block.

Gateshead is located on the south bank of the river Tyne, and is an extended urban area stretching along the main river corridor east, towards Hebburn. To its south and west there are several satellite towns, for example Birtley and Whickham. It has a varied topography compared to the City of Sunderland and South Tyneside and, in its western parts, there are extensive areas of a rural character.

Relatively recently, Penshaw's dominating landscape monument has been joined by the Angel of the North, which perches high above the Gateshead section of the A1.

Landscape

The strategy area has a relatively diverse landscape with an array of different habitats, which are products of its geology, and, in many respects, history. In terms of landform, the strategy area is varied, rising from below sea level in the coastal inter-tidal areas to over 250 metres above Ordnance Datum, on its highest fells.

Geography and changes over time

The area's geography is one of contrasts, from the cliffs and low sandy shorelines of the North Sea coast, to wooded valleys and the 'fell-like' hills of western Gateshead. Many underlying aspects of this are fixed in historical timescales, but, since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, man-induced change to the area, at both a micro and macro level, has been almost constant.

Population

The impact of human activity on the area cannot be over-stated. Its relatively urban, densely populated nature is evidenced by the 2022 National Census figures, when its population was around 625,000 (Gateshead - 197,700; South Tyneside -147,800; and Sunderland - 275,000).

Human geography

Most of the strategy area's population reside in the conurbations and larger settlements, and most people work in 'the area', or the nearby city of Newcastle. Service industries, including retail and tourism, have replaced the once dominant mining and manufacturing trades as the Area's key economic drivers. Whilst services are important in terms of employment share, some larger non-service related employment hubs are located away from the core built up areas, such as to the west of the City of Sunderland (for example the Nissan complex at Washington) and in Gateshead (for example the Team Valley Trading Estate).

Key transport routes into, through, and across the strategy area include the A1 and the East Coast Mainline, north-south, and the widespread Tyne and Wear Metro system.

The geography of the strategy area is dominated by its main river valleys, in between which, there is a broadly undulating lowland landscape ranging in altitude from 'marginally below' sea level, to close to 260 m above sea level.

Across the area, there are incised river valleys, broad u-shaped valleys, a varied coastline of high limestone cliffs, soft and rocky shores and many intertidal features. Inland, the rolling hills of the magnesian limestone plateau run through the densely populated urban areas of Sunderland. Away from the urban areas, the river valleys are spread with a patchwork of agriculture, both pastoral and arable, that climb from the valley floors on to the higher fells. In the central portion of the strategy area, south of the Tyne, the land is flatter and rather featureless, except to the east where incursions of limestone intrude upon the landscape, such as at Boldon Hill, South Tyneside. In parts of western Gateshead, some of the smaller valleys, for example the Barlow Burn, illustrate a gently rolling topography heavily moulded by glaciation; the presence of moraines and eskers, demonstrate the origin of their ground form.

Relief

The strategy area is, essentially, a lowland landscape. Most of its land surface area lies below the 100m contour, much of it lower still. Nonetheless it exhibits a significant altitudinal range, from slightly below sea level (that is, the intertidal areas of South Tyneside) to over 250 m above sea level (the fells of western Gateshead). The highest points of the three local authority areas are: just over 170m above ordnance datum, at Warden Law (City of Sunderland); around 90m at Boldon Hills (South Tyneside); and 259m at Currock Hill (Gateshead).

Rivers

The geography of the strategy area has been heavily influenced by its two major rivers, the Tyne and the Wear, and the extensive industrial and urban areas that developed along their lower valleys; in large part, because of the access these provided to the North Sea. Today, all of its river systems provide corridors for wildlife courtesy of their instream habitats, marginal vegetation and, further west, their wooded banksides.

The three main river systems the Wear, the Tyne and the Derwent (a tributary of the Tyne) rise on the high peatlands of the Pennines, far to the west and south west. The Tyne runs west to east and is tidal over most of its length (some 34.5 km) in the strategy area. Into this flows the Derwent and the river Team (in Gateshead), and in South Tyneside, the river Don. The Wear enters the North Sea at Sunderland and has no major tributaries in the strategy area.

The Tyne, the largest of the area's rivers has had, in terms of its ecology, industry and economic development, a disproportionally large effect on the whole North East region. In some places the Tyne's flood plain has been raised to facilitate settlement or development for example in South Shields, around Tyne Dock, and in Gateshead around Dunston.

The river Wear enters the strategy area, upstream of Fatfield and flows north east towards Sunderland, past Penshaw Hill and Claxheugh Rock and through a limestone gorge, before meeting the North Sea.

At both Gateshead and Sunderland, narrower deep river gorges allow iconic bridges to cross the rivers and, in many senses, these visually characterise the area. The river mouths of both Tyne and Wear are enclosed by Victorian piers, built to protect the river entrances, the harbours they contain and the trading vessels passing through them.

The Derwent, courtesy of its heavily wooded riverbanks and rapid and riffle instream profile, could be considered an upland water course, it enters the Tyne at Derwenthaugh (Gateshead).

The river Team is, in essence, a meandering lowland river, with incised riverbanks, sandbanks and adjacent damp meadows. It flows through a wide, glacially channelled valley, into a heavily modified downstream section before entering the Tyne at Dunston (Gateshead).

The river Don, most easterly of the Tyne's tributaries, forms in eastern Gateshead, before flowing through the flat, agricultural landscape straddling the Sunderland/South Tyneside boundary. Most of its course is in South Tyneside, and it reaches the Tyne at Jarrow.

According to the Northumbria River Basin Management Plan (2022), the ecological status of all of the strategy area's rivers, both estuarine and non-estuarine reaches of these, is at best moderate.

After geology and habitat pattern, climatic factors are some of the most important influences on the distribution, abundance and behaviour of plant and animal species. 

The strategy area has a temperate climate. Much of the area's weather is tempered by its coastal location, which confers upon it relatively cool summers and mild winters, compared to other areas at a similar latitude. For example, it is cooler than Carlisle in the west but appreciably drier; the strategy area's coastal strip is one of the driest parts of the British Isles. The North Sea's buffering effect extends inland, to some degree, along the river valleys of both the Wear and Tyne.

The North Sea's influence is most evident during the summer, when the coastal strip of South Tyneside and Sunderland experience daytime temperatures some two degrees lower than nearby inland locations. By contrast, in winter, this area experiences fewer extreme low temperatures.

The mean annual temperatures of the strategy area are relatively low, for example mean daily temperatures of 2 to 4˚C in January (the coldest month) and around 15˚C in July/August (the warmest months). The mean highest temperature is around 12.8°C, lower than the England-wide mean of 13.1°C. The mean lowest temperature, of around 7.2°C, is a little higher than that for England generally (5.6°C).

The area's climate is dominated by westerly air flows. For close to two-thirds of a 'normal year' the wind emanates from between south west and north west, bringing much of the area's rainfall. These air flows, after passing over the North Pennines, are warmer and drier before reaching Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland. Hence, the area experiences less cloud cover, a greater number of sunshine hours and reduced precipitation than locations to the west. The driest months are usually February and April, whilst August is the wettest. The total annual rainfall, of 643.1mm, is considerably lower than England's national mean figure (838.7 mm per annum).

Sunshine levels are lowest in January and December, when day length is shortest. In a clear summer month, the area can experience over 250 hours of sunshine, but the sunniest month, on average, is May.

The extensive urban zones of the strategy area create micro-climatic effects, courtesy of the heat island phenomenon, which effects the ecology of these.

Climate change and biodiversity

The consequences of climate change upon species and habitats in the strategy area, is, at present, indeterminate - but it is clear that there will be impacts and that 'change' is to be expected. Sea level rise will impact all coastal species and habitats, and the tidal reaches of rivers, might suffer 'coastal squeeze'. Storm surges will increase erosive forces which might impact upon mudflats, saltmarshes and other intertidal habitats.

Some of the climate-related pressures which may increase habitat sensitivity include:

• sea-level rise
• 'habitat squeeze'
• temperature stress
• drought
• eutrophication
• increased storms
• invasive species (more of, and better conditions for these)

Recent work indicates that most semi-natural habitats (arable field margins aside) are considered 'medium to highly sensitive' to climate change, and that some future change is 'inevitable'. Furthermore, the condition of each habitats will affect its sensitivity; degraded habitats tending to be less resilient. The most sensitive habitats in the strategy area, in this respect, are probably:

• riverine habitats and standing water bodies (for example lakes and ponds)
• wet woodlands
• wet lowland meadows
• lowland heath, and
• fen, marsh and swamp

Increases in temperature and rainfall patterns could lead to changes in agricultural patterns (for example different crops or harvesting cycles); consequently, some species may no longer be able to inhabit the strategy area. Most exercises in making 'predictions' for the impacts of climate change upon species suggest that changes in range, and behaviour, of some species is likely to occur; in some cases, this may already be underway.  Birdlife International looked at how European bird species might respond to climate change (Huntley and Green et al. 2007). This indicated that the potential future range of the 'average European bird species' might move by nearly 550 km (in a roughly north easterly direction) by the end of the 21^st century.

Whilst the exact response and degree of change taking place cannot yet be accurately predicted, it is anticipated that some of the principal impacts of climate change can be reliably 'anticipated'. Such impacts are likely to include (Hopkins et al., 2007; Smithers et al., 2008):

• changes in the phenology of species and habitats - this may include changes in the timing of seasonal events, for example the flowering of certain plants, which could lead to a loss of synchrony between species and the availability of food and other resources e.g. breeding birds and the availability of the insect larvae (i.e. caterpillars) needed to feed their young
• changes in species' abundance and range, resulting from changes in the availability of the precise climatic conditions required by that, or those, species for example the loss of some breeding seabirds from the strategy area coastline
• changes in the habitat preferences of some species, as microclimates in preferred habitats alter, migrate from one location to another or, in some instances, disappear
• alterations to the habitats themselves, and in some instances whole ecosystems, as biotic systems respond to altered water regimes (for example changes to seasonal rainfall patterns), increased rates of transpiration, decomposition in some habitats and to higher growth rates of some plants
• changes to the composition of some plant and animal communities
• wide scale 'catastrophic' losses in some species, as a consequence of extreme weather events for example droughts, severe snowfall or the incidence of major floods
• the increased survival, spread, or arrival, of invasive species, pest species and disease organisms, for example highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)

As well as negative impacts upon biodiversity, climate change may bring opportunities for some species and habitats. It is anticipated that with change, a suite of new wildlife may 'move north' into the strategy area.  This could mean that the area plays host to a range of attractive new species, which might include colourful invertebrates (for example butterflies and dragonflies) and 'southern' bird species (for example bee-eater), amongst others.

The rocks of the strategy area comprise a series of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, which sometimes include coal and iron-rich bands within the first of these. In eastern South Tyneside and Sunderland the geology is dominated by the magnesian limestone (forming the cliffs of the South Shields and Sunderland coastline), with smaller amounts of millstone grits and mudstone. The presence of this limestone has a profound influence on the area's ecology. In the south, west and part of the south east, the surface rocks are underlain by the late carboniferous rocks of the coal measures. The economic, cultural and historical impacts of the presence of these cannot be overstated. The eastern hills of Gateshead have an underlying geology that is predominantly sandstone and grindstone.

Over much of the area's bedrock lies various forms of superficial, unconsolidated drift; often till and boulder clay from the last glacial period. At the coast, the limestone is topped by glacial drift and boulder clay. In places, the limestone outcrops influence the vegetational sward to such a degree that the area's most important botanical habitat, magnesian limestone grassland, has developed upon this.

During the most recent sequence of glaciations, the valleys of the Team, Wear and Tyne were carved out. The river's courses were scoured and re-shaped, as ice sheets wore away rock and then some 10,000 years ago, glacial melt-waters gouged out surface deposits and re-distributed vast quantities of sediment over the landscape. It was these powerful forces that blasted a way to the sea through the limestone for the River Wear, and left the topography that persists.

In the west, glacial sands and gravels were deposited along the Tyne and the north-south oriented valleys of western Gateshead. The commercial excavation of these deposits created 'strings of quarries' and post-exploitation, landfill sites.

In the east, much of the drift geology comprises boulder clays, with some sands, overlying the magnesian limestone.  At South Shields, extensive post-glacial, windblown sediment is found along the low-lying coast, to the north of Trow Point.

Across the strategy area there are many locations where the sub-surface deposits comprise 'made ground' of rubble and fill, capped with clay. Some of this came from post-Second World War slum clearances (for example at Jarrow Slake, South Tyneside) or, in many locations, (for example Watergate, Gateshead and Silksworth Colliery, City of Sunderland) from pit waste and spoil heaps.

Soils

Across the strategy area, slowly permeable, seasonally wet, slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soils predominate. There are ten different soil formulations across the area; six of which predominate. Many are of relatively low fertility, matching the area's relatively low agricultural land gradings. There are two dominant soil formulations. The first of these is, "slowly permeable, seasonally wet acid loamy and clayey soils", with low fertility. This covers a large part of the western portion of the Strategy Area; most of the land to the west of the Team valley. The second is, "slowly permeable, seasonally wet, slightly acid but base-rich, loamy and clayey soils", with moderate fertility. This soil type dominates in the easterly portion of the strategy area.

Scattered elsewhere, there is a series of soils more specific to local conditions. For example, on parts of the magnesian limestone plateau "freely draining, lime-rich soils" are present.  Along the southern bank of the river Tyne, around Blaydon, and from there, south west, up the lower Derwent valley are located "freely draining floodplain soils", with a moderate to high fertility. In some parts of western Gateshead, there are examples of 'restored' soil types, on land that was previously subject to open cast mining or quarrying.   

The agriculture practised on these soils varies. The higher fertility more freely draining soils are used for cereals and other arable crops, the heavier nutrient poor soils being left to pastoral systems.

Considerable parts of the strategy area have long been dedicated to agriculture, and such activities probably account for over 40% of the area's total land area, cereals and livestock being the main outputs.

Agriculture is largely concentrated in a band running east to west, from Whitburn towards Washington. From there, west across the A1, the agricultural swathe widens and wraps westward around and between Gateshead's western settlements, before it turns northwards to the area's northern and western limit. From this 'horizontal' band, a 'tongue' projects southwards from Washington across the River Wear, towards the Herringtons in the City of Sunderland, and from there, south again, to the east of Hetton, and eastwards from there to Burdon and the coast. Smaller pockets of agricultural activity, such as the rearing of horses, can be found scattered across the area.

The area's agriculture practices are largely determined by the quality of the land upon which they are conducted. There is no land in the strategy area that is graded higher than Agricultural Land Classification Grade 3 (that is, 'good to moderate'), with some small pockets of Grade 4 land (that is, 'poor') in west Gateshead.

Arable tends to be concentrated along the river valleys and on the magnesian limestone. Pastoral land of varying quality tends to be located on poorer soils at slightly higher elevations, but also occurs in the valley bottoms, especially in less well drained areas.

Across the strategy area cereals are grown (mainly wheat and barley, occasionally oats and linseed) with rotated oil seed rape. The margins of cereal fields, in combination with adjacent hedges, and the harvest aftermath of winter stubble (if this is retained) are important for farmland birds (for example grey partridge and yellowhammer) and mammals (for example brown hare).

Where soils can be made more productive with high levels of nutrient inputs, there has been a tendency towards a greater intensification of agriculture over the last 50 years. This has resulted in a pattern of larger fields with fewer less well maintained hedgerows, and where these persist, they tend to do so in a poorly maintained state.

Grazing stock is mixed but, in the main, comprises cattle, some dairy but mainly beef or mixed, with smaller numbers of sheep, the latter predominate on the higher ground of Gateshead and occasionally towards the coast. Across the area, there are many smaller pastures and paddocks, and some larger grasslands, used for grazing horses. Such 'horsiculture' is a prominent local land use.

The variation in agricultural practices across the strategy area means that many of the typical, but declining, species associated with arable and pastoral landscapes persist, at least in small numbers. These include linnet, yellowhammer, and in some areas, grey partridge and brown hare. The adoption of agri-environmental schemes and similar initiatives (for example agricultural set-aside) has been important in some parts in slowing the decline, or aiding the recovery of some farmland bird species (for example tree sparrow) over the period 2000-2020. The strategy area has a higher than the national average uptake of such schemes.

The coastal towns were once important fishing ports. South Shields' status as such had declined long before the collapse of North Sea fish stocks led to the wider industry's collapse.  Sunderland retains a small fishing presence, though its 'fishing fleet' shrank by more than half in the early 21^st century.

In a heavily urbanised area like the south of Tyne and Wear, the built environment is a major and growing part of the modern landscape, but away from the conurbations and larger settlements, it remains relatively green.

Much of the strategy area's industry is concentrated around the riversides of the Tyne and the Wear, with large aggregations of industrial activity in a variety of industrial and trading estates, such as in the lower Team Valley, Gateshead and around the A1231 and A19 in Washington, in the city of Sunderland.

Industrial legacy

The industrial past of the strategy area has fundamentally altered its landscape and the habitats contained therein. These demonstrate a fundamental linkage with the industries that were the economic mainstay of the region from before the Industrial Revolution until the latter part of the 20^th century. These included coal mining, ship building and heavy engineering, with, in the Tyne Valley, a significant extractive industry (sand and gravel). In the east of the strategy area, limestone quarrying developed from the late eighteenth century; the products of this being used in steel making, agriculture and construction (for roads, walls and buildings).

In all of its guises, deep coal extraction, drift or surface coal mining has left an indelible imprint on the strategy area. This is relevant in terms of the physical characteristics of the area (for example now landscaped spoil heaps and the extensive network of old railway lines) but also in the pattern of local settlements (which were often established around collieries and associated industrial infrastructure, for example coking plants or shipyards), local names, culture and traditions. The untreated waste waters from these continue to contribute to the area's poor soil and water quality.

Today, most traces of these industrial landscapes have been re-claimed, and in recent decades, leisure and tourist industries (for example along the South Tyneside and Sunderland coastline) have grown. A further legacy of the area's industrial past are the many old railway lines that now function as long-distance footpaths, bridleways or cycle paths, their linear habitats acting as wildlife corridors.

Introduction

The type and distribution of the area's habitats are related to its bedrock geology, drift geology, soil types, hydrology, land use and the prevailing climatic conditions.

The biodiversity of the area is varied and the botanical elements of this are often expressive of the underlying geology, as is well evidenced in the City of Sunderland and South Tyneside.  Many aspects of its wildlife are rooted in its history. Over the last two millennia, the influence of man has had a profound impact upon the extent and nature of habitats and, more latterly, their intrinsic quality for the biodiversity that relies upon them.

Designated sites and habitats

The strategy area incorporates a range of designated sites, which are recognised at an international, national or local level. These include:

• International:
  • 1 Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
  • 1 Special Protection Area (SPA)
  • 1 Ramsar site
• National:
  • 31 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
• Local:
  • 25 Local Nature Reserves (LNR)
  • 250 Local Wildlife Sites
  • 6 Local Geological Sites

Designated nature conservation sites cover approximately 41 square kilometres or just over 11.5% of the total Strategy Area (of c.351 square kilometres). This figure reflects the area's often urban character and the rather fragmentary distribution of its semi-natural habitats. Important such habitats within it include:

• woodlands (ancient, including planted ancient woodland sites for example PAWS, semi-natural and plantations, both broad-leaved and coniferous)
• scrub
• hedgerows
• rivers and streams
• estuarine habitats (for example mudflats, saltmarsh)
• wetlands (for example ponds) with associated swamps (for example reedbeds) and fen vegetation
• herb-rich lowland meadows and pastures
• calcareous grasslands
• coastal habitats (for example maritime cliffs and slope, rocky shores, sand dunes)
• urban (for example open mosaic habitats on previously developed land)

Habitat connectivity

How species-rich habitats 'connect' to each other and how such connections function in order to allow wildlife to move freely through the landscape is a vital consideration. It is important to consider how the connections between biodiverse habitats across the strategy area can be strengthened to create better wildlife networks, such as those along the Wear and Derwent valleys.

In this regard, less obviously wildlife-rich, linear features such as hedgerows, the verges of transport corridors and the green banksides of rivers and streams, and even ditches, can all be of significance. These features can help link the area's most important wildlife habitats but they also have the facility to better connect (ecologically) such biodiverse locations with green features in the urban sphere (for example gardens, parks and street trees), enhancing these for wildlife and providing benefits for the people that inhabit those spaces.

As a whole, the strategy area is poorly furnished with significant areas of woodlands, either semi-natural or plantation; only 7% of its land area is forested, significantly less than the national average (13.1%); by contrast, woodland cover amounts to over 15% in Gateshead. Ancient semi-natural woodland is particularly scarce in the area; this habitat is important for a host of specialist woodland species.

In a landscape context, the wider part of the strategy area is dotted with small pockets of conifers, mixed plantations, and mixed deciduous woodland but most of the area's woodlands are under 20 hectares in extent; many considerably smaller. Scattered across the strategy area are small areas of coniferous trees and farm shelter belts. These are not important for woodland species per se, but can be important, in the wider landscape, providing additional wooded habitat and refuge for many species.

The eastern and north east portions of the strategy area are particularly poor for woodland cover, with under 5% of the land north of the Wear, from Sunderland into and across South Tyneside being wooded. The area's most extensive tracts of woodland are concentrated in the lower Derwent and Wear valleys.

The lower Derwent valley (Gateshead) contains a suite of important woodland sites that include Milkwellburn Woods, Chopwell Woods, the Gibside Estate, Spen Banks and the Derwent Walk Country Park. Much of this large woodland mosaic is deciduous, some is secondary but a large proportion is ancient. There are large conifer blocks, for example at Chopwell Woods (c.360ha), where previous ancient woodland was over-planted with softwoods.

The City of Sunderland possesses a significant woodland resource, mainly along the Wear valley downstream of the Lambton Estate to North/South Hylton, with particularly important sites at Ayton Woods and Hylton Dene.

South Tyneside, excepting for areas planted during the 1990s (for example Colliery Wood, Boldon), has traditionally supported little woodland and this remains the case. The largest areas of mature trees in the South Tyneside area, other than isolated small pockets, are in cemeteries for example Jarrow Cemetery, or the mature plantations of public parks, such as West Park and Redhead Park (South Shields).

In contrast to much of the strategy area, western Gateshead has extensive woodlands, especially in the lower Derwent valley. Most of the native broad leaved woodland habitat in the strategy area is found there, along the Stanley and Barlow Burns and in the upper Team valley.

Woodland: Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland in the strategy area is a scarce resource concentrated in the Derwent valley (Gateshead), with smaller amounts in the Wear valley (City of Sunderland).

The best examples are in the Derwent valley, for example the Thornley Woods and Gibside SSSIs, with others being found along a corridor to the west of the South Hylton Bridge at Ayton's Woods and in the Cox Green area of the Wear valley. There are none in South Tyneside.

In terms of native broad leaved tree species, the most important species represented in these woodlands are oak, ash and, before the onset of Dutch elm disease, wych elm, plus the non-native sycamore. There is a healthy representation of other species, depending upon soil types and local conditions. This includes birches, wild cherry, rowan, holly, as both a tree and a shrub, with alder in damp areas, and some rarer species, such as small-leaved lime. Typical shrubs in such woodlands include hazel, hawthorn, blackthorn, elder, guelder rose and honeysuckle.

Woodland: Ancient replanted

These are ancient woodlands that have been felled and replanted (often with conifers) but which have never lost their woodland cover. These retain some of the greater biodiversity value, which is never present in newly planted woodlands. These woodlands are richer than 'simple plantations', as their floral and fungal complexes, and the soils associated with ancient woodlands have usually been, at least in part, retained.

The greatest concentration of this habitat is in the lower Derwent valley (Gateshead). A good example is the extensive woodland block at Chopwell Woods where ancient oak woodland was over-planted with softwoods following the removal of its native broad leaved trees. The wider site here retains remnant areas of abutting ancient woodland.

Woodland: Semi-natural broad-leaved

This habitat comprises a range of broad leaved tree and shrub species varying in age and structural diversity which may have developed over relatively long time periods, but which is not 'ancient'.  Some such woodlands are 'semi-natural' and their flora and fauna reflect this. Collectively, the many scattered blocks of such mixed deciduous woodland across the strategy area form one of its largest semi-natural habitats.

Good examples occur along the Wear, to the west of the City of Sunderland, where an extensive network of such woodland stretches from Mount Pleasant downstream to Coxgreen. On the north-facing slopes of the Tyne valley (for example at Ryton Willows), a range of similar woodlands occur. 

Woodland: Broad-leaved and mixed plantation

Planted woodlands, comprising broad-leaf and/or a mix of broad-leaf and coniferous trees, occur across much of the strategy area. Such woodlands may be mature and of a considerable age or more recent; many such smaller woodlands were planted after the Second World War.

A high proportion of the strategy area's 'woodland resource' falls into this category, in part, because many former colliery spoil heaps and other post-industrial areas were 'restored' through such woodland creation. This habitat is particularly prevalent to the south and south west of Sunderland and in parts of Gateshead on former colliery and open cast sites for example Watergate Forest Park in Gateshead, and Colliery Wood in South Tyneside. Many of these projects were completed through the work of the Great North Forest (1990 to 2005), sometimes supported by the Woodland Trust, for example the extensive planting near Hedley Hall, Gateshead, in the upper reaches of the Team's watershed.

Other examples of this habitat are found at the 'riverside parks' of South Tyneside (for example Hebburn Riverside Park) and Gateshead (for example Bill Quay Riverside Park) where such planted woodland straddles the Local Authority boundary.

Woodland: Coniferous

These woodlands are usually monocultures of coniferous tree species. They tend to be species-poor in terms of trees and shrubs, and often lack structural diversity and suffer badly from shading. Consequently, they are of less value for wildlife than native woodlands.

Nonetheless, in the wider countryside, such plantings can be of some value for common bird species (for example chaffinch) and more specialised species (for example goldcrest and coal tit). They also provide cover for roe deer, fox and badger. Many such woodlands are grown as timber crops, others as landscape features for example shelter-belts.

There are larger areas of commercial timber growth in some parts of the strategy area (for example in the Ravensworth Estate, Gateshead). In Gateshead, there are further significant areas of coniferous woodland in the upper Team valley and on the slopes of the Tyne valley (for example Guard's Wood) but the distribution of most such woodland is rather patchy.

Where such plantations are of a varied age structure and a more diverse species mix they can prove valuable for some wildlife, birds especially (for example crossbill), though such woodlands are invariably less biodiverse than their semi-natural, broad leaved counterparts. Some of the more interesting examples in the strategy area are to be found in the Gibside Estate (Gateshead).

Woodland: Wet woodland

Wet woodland usually occurs on poorly drained soils and in terms of representative tree species, is dominated by alder, downy birch and willows. It is found on floodplains, as a successional habitat, or in association with fens and bogs, in peaty hollows, along stream sides or where poorly draining ground is fed by hillside flushes.

This is a scarce habitat in the strategy area. The only significant resource is found in the valleys of the Derwent (for example Strother Hills), the Team (for example Ridley Gill), and along a tributary of the Tyne, the Barlow/Blaydon Burn (for example Bog Wood), all in Gateshead; with a small example of alder carr near Hetton Bogs in the City of Sunderland.

Hedgerows

Ancient hedgerows, such as medieval parish hedgerows that were in existence prior to the Enclosure Acts of 1720 and 1840, are an extremely restricted habitat in the strategy area. No such hedgerows are known to exist in South Tyneside or the City of Sunderland, and only limited amounts in Gateshead such as those along Clockburn Lonnen in the Derwent valley.  Most strategy area hedgerows date from after the periods of enclosure between the 16^th and 19^th centuries.

Away from the urban areas and river valleys, the area retains a relatively widespread hedgerow resource but with a limited number of hedgerow trees. There has been much degradation of this in recent decades, largely due to poor management; some have been lost for example along the coastal strip between South Shields and Whitburn.

The area's hedgerows are dominated by a relatively limited suite of woody, shrub and tree species. These include (in roughly descending order of frequency of occurrence) the shrubs hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, elder, dog rose, holly and bramble; and the trees ash, oak and sycamore, as well as holly which often appears as a hedgerow tree. Other woody species that might be represented include gorse, ivy, wild privet, guelder rose, crab apple and honeysuckle.

This habitat, with its associated hedge-bottom flora, is important for invertebrates (for example common butterfly and bumblebee species), small mammals (for example bank vole), foraging and commuting bats, and is hugely important for the birds of the wider countryside; providing these with feeding and breeding sites. These 'living lines in the landscape' also play a crucial role in supporting habitat connectivity.

In the more rural parts of the strategy area, the landscape is criss-crossed by hedgerows running along roadsides and between copses or larger areas of woodland. In such habitats many of the common hedgerow species, both resident (for example blackbird, song thrush, robin, dunnock and wren) and summer visitors (for example whitethroat and willow warbler) are present. Where hedgerow trees occur, for example along Tunstall Hope Road, City of Sunderland, species such as greenfinch, goldfinch and chaffinch occur, joined by blackcap during the summer. If the hedgerow trees are mature enough for larger cavities to develop, hole-nesting species, like stock dove, and predatory species such as kestrel and little owl may be present.

Rivers and streams are linear habitats with flowing water. Small streams combine to form larger flows, rivers, that travel from high to lower ground and eventually the sea. Where they approach the sea, they may be tidal. The effects of salt water mixing with fresh has important effects upon the ecology of a river's lower reaches. In such situations, these may support areas of mudflats and saltmarsh. These habitats are important as wildlife corridors, supporting a diversity of species and harbouring a range of habitats, depending upon the watercourse's geography and location in the catchment.

The strategy area's main rivers, the Wear, Tyne and Derwent, originate on the flat-topped summits of the Pennine Hills. The first two flow through the area, and out to the North Sea; the once industrialised lower reaches of these are now more important for wildlife than for many decades past.

The rivers Tyne and Wear have increasing fish populations comprising both estuarine and migratory species (such as dab, plaice, sea trout and Atlantic salmon), and are important for these, and the species preying upon them. The latter include a range of piscivorous birds and increasing numbers of fish-eating mammals (for example otter, grey and common seal - the latter two often venturing surprisingly long distances up river).

The Tyne and Wear are tidal over much of their lower reaches within the strategy area. In the case of the Tyne, it is tidal along most of the strategy area's northern boundary (at least as far west as Clara Vale), whilst the Wear is tidal to as far west as Fatfield Bridge, perhaps to the bridge that carries the A182 over the Wear.

The valley of the river Derwent is still largely cloaked in woodlands and holds important populations of birds. The river itself supports the typical birds of fast-flowing river habitats, for example dipper, grey wagtail, common sandpiper and goosander. It reaches the river Tyne at Derwenthaugh, in Gateshead and is tidal up to Swalwell Gut.

The river Team, well wooded in its upper reaches and along its feeder streams (for example the Beamish Burn) rises in County Durham. Overlooked by the Angel of the North, it meanders past damp grasslands (for example Lamesley Pastures) and enters the Tyne at Dunston in Gateshead. Its lower reaches were extensively modified in the 1940s to facilitate the development of the Team Valley Trading Estate.

The lowest of the Tyne's southern tributaries is the River Don. This rises to the east of Eighton Banks, Gateshead, where converging agricultural land drains join and flow across the plain between Sunderland and South Tyneside. Flowing largely through South Tyneside, the Don reaches the Tyne at Jarrow, close to the important ecclesiastical church of St. Paul's. This is adjacent to what was once part of a large complex of inter-tidal mudflats at Jarrow Slake. This was in-filled with the spoil from slum clearance work during the mid-1950s. Some of the intertidal habitat remained until the early 1990s, but most of this remnant was lost to development before the turn of the Millennium, and only a tiny fraction now remains.

The water quality of all of the strategy area's rivers, especially in their lower reaches, improved between the early 1980s and 2010s. Their biological water quality remains 'variable' in such areas, but such stretches may still support important species such as water vole, for example, on the River Don in South Tyneside. The current ecological status of all of the area's rivers is considered 'moderate'.

The entire length of the Tyne's estuary is now an important wildlife corridor, hosting otter and migrating Atlantic salmon. Much of this improvement took place courtesy of major capital investment to reduce point-source pollution. The result was closure of sewage outfalls and improved treatment of discharges from sewage treatment works. In some places, such as at Birtley Sewage Treatment Works (adjacent to the River Team in Gateshead), large reedbeds were created during the early 2000s to support the role of combined sewage and mine water treatment. These hugely improved the quality of water discharges into the river Team and provided important new wildlife habitat. Most of these improvements had considerable benefits for wildlife, with riparian species, such as goosander, kingfisher and grey wagtail being particular beneficiaries.

The river valleys also provide natural flight lines for migrating birds. For example, in the autumn, barnacle geese turn into the Tyne estuary and head, via the Tyne Gap, across country to their wintering grounds in south west Scotland.

Angling

Recreational fly fishing occurs on stretches of the Derwent, the westerly reaches of the Tyne and the Wear, where 'runs' of sea trout and Atlantic salmon have increased, dramatically, over the last 50 years. Coarse fishing is practised at many closed waters and along the Tyne and Wear, whilst sea angling is a popular pastime along much of the area's coastal strip.

Wider drainage patterns and hydrology

Away from the main rivers, the strategy area is criss-crossed by a filigree of smaller watercourses, which create an intimate drainage pattern, especially across the agricultural landscape.  The biodiversity of these, and their adjacent areas, is heavily influenced by the surrounding agricultural practices.

Many of the strategy area's once extensive network of small meandering streams have been 'canalised' into ditches along the headlands of fields or the bases of hedgerows, to improve the drainage of the area's relatively poorly draining soils.

From a seasonal perspective, soils tend to be at their wettest in late winter and early spring, drying out through the seasons thereafter. Ground water levels are usually at their lowest in late summer and early autumn.

The quality of riverine habitats in the strategy area are negatively impacted by urban runoff and storm water overflows, all of which leads to downstream pollution. The groundwater quality of the strategy area is, overall, poor. This state results from the collective impacts of disused mine pollution, diffuse pollution from agriculture, saline intrusion (at the coast), and effluent seepage from landfill.

Estuaries

Over centuries, the estuaries of the Tyne and the Wear, which enter the North Sea less than 11 km apart (at South Shields and Sunderland, respectively), have been profoundly impacted by human activities.

Both rivers are tidal far inland and both are macrotidal (that is, they have a tidal range of over 4m). At low tide, in some parts, they exhibit 'ribbons' of variously interconnected mudflats that support huge numbers of invertebrates such as ragworm Nereis and the crustacean Corophium. Some of the best examples of such habitat are within sight of the 'heart of the city' in both Sunderland and urban Gateshead. These mudflats are important for a variety of migrating and wintering wading birds, for example redshank and curlew, and wildfowl for example teal and shelduck.

The Tyne mudflats form a linear complex that constitutes the largest area of such habitat in the Tyne and Wear area. Since the cessation of large scale river dredging in 1991 they are expanding. Nonetheless, this habitat may be under threat to 'coastal squeeze' as sea levels rise. The river Wear has significant areas of mudflat upriver of the Northern Spire Bridge at Deptford and Claxheugh, where important areas of saltmarsh can also be found.

Saltmarsh

Saltmarshes are productive eco-systems and a scarce local habitat; in the strategy area most of them occur inland on the estuarine stretches of the Wear and Tyne.

The largest area of this habitat along both main rivers has been lost to land claim since the commencement of the Industrial Revolution. On both rivers, large areas of fringing land would have once held this habitat but this has largely been infilled for industry for example at Jarrow Slake (South Tyneside). Today, the Tyne and Wear both retain small amounts of saltmarsh, both linearly and at specific locations. Sunderland has a particular local responsibility with good examples at Baron's Quay, Timber Beach and Claxheugh Riverside. Some of these sites have 'colonising salt marsh species', such as glassworts Salicornia spp., which are poorly represented elsewhere.

Other local examples include where the River Don meets the Tyne at Jarrow Slake (South Tyneside). Here there is a part-created pocket of such habitat, with further small sections on the River Team at Dunston and around Dunston Staithes Basin in Gateshead. In such areas can be found common saltmarsh grass, sea arrowgrass, greater and lesser sea spurrey, a variety of orache species and, on the upper edges of 'the marsh', thrift and sea aster.

The strategy area is not well supplied with larger fresh water wetlands. Many of the area's more extensive wetland systems, such as those that were once present along the lower reaches of the River Team (Gateshead) and River Don (South Tyneside), have long since disappeared as a result of the re-engineering of the rivers' courses, the extensive drainage of agricultural land and the development of land for industrial use.

Natural wetlands

There is a wide range of wetlands across the strategy area, though few of these could be considered large. The complex of wildlife-rich habitats associated with these include open water, marsh, fen, reed swamp and willow/alder carr.

Wetlands are biodiverse habitats, harbouring a wide variety of aquatic wildlife. This includes submerged and marginal wetland plants, a plethora of invertebrate species, and breeding amphibians (for example common toad). Some wetlands support populations of important 'conservation species' (for example otter, great crested newt, water shrew and, in some locations, water vole and harvest mouse). These sites can be important for wetland birds, including wintering wildfowl. Larger open water bodies include Barmston Pond, Rainton Meadows and Herrington Country Park in the City of Sunderland; Shibdon Pond and Lamesley Pastures in Gateshead; and, Boldon Flats and Tilesheds Pond in South Tyneside.

'Ponds', mainly small in size, of all descriptions are widely distributed across the strategy area. These are often located on low-lying ground or where local drainage conditions mean that water accrues more rapidly than it can drain away, for example on clay-rich soils. They can be important for wildlife, having rich aquatic invertebrate communities for example dragonflies and damselflies, and an array of fringing, water-loving herbs and grasses. Unless they are of a more extensive size or linked to other similar habitats, they are unlikely to be important for larger wildlife.

Nutrient-rich ponds hold a range of aquatic plants including fennel-leaved pondweed and spiked water-milfoil, and often harbour populations of coarse fish that include perch, roach, rudd and eels. Good examples include Boldon Marsh and Tilesheds Ponds in South Tyneside, Usworth Hall Pond in the City of Sunderland and Acer (Dunston) Pond in Gateshead. One of the more unusual wetlands, in the City of Sunderland, is Hetton Bogs which is fed by base-rich waters from the magnesian limestone escarpment.

There are no natural lakes in the area. The few that are present were created for landscape purposes during the restoration of post-industrial land (for example Silksworth Lake, City of Sunderland) as part of formal, municipal parks such as Roker Park, Sunderland and South Marine Park Lake, South Tyneside or in the development of grand estates - for example Axwell Park Lake and the lake at Bradley Hall, both in Gateshead).

Many of the area's larger wetlands are man-made or much influenced by human activity. Some came about as a result of mining subsidence or mineral extraction, such as those at Herrington Country Park, City of Sunderland. Some of the strategy area's most important habitats for wildlife are on the fringes of such wetlands, where reed swamp and marsh proliferates.

The coastal strip is impoverished in terms of freshwater habitats, so the wetlands of Boldon Flats and the water bodies of Sunderland AFC's Academy of Light, which are located on the flat inland plain between South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland, are of particular local importance and hugely attractive to wetland birds.

Other wetlands

More formal, man-made wetlands include the complex of habitats at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Washington, where there is a large breeding colony of grey heron. The development of this facility in the early to mid-1970s was catalysed by the impending loss of what was then one of the region's best lowland wetlands, Barmston Pond.

Hard-edged wetlands, in the shape of formal lakes/ponds in parks for example at Saltwell Park, Gateshead; Mowbray Park, City of Sunderland and South Marine Park, South Tyneside can assume a high level of importance for wildlife within urban settings. The hard-edged lake at South Marine Park, close to the North Sea was one of the region's most important wintering sites for Mute Swan for a period in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Reed swamp and reedbed

Reedbed is a habitat dominated by common reed, but, in practice, the phrase is often used to refer to 'reed swamp', with tall, emergent plants such as greater reedmace and associated wetland herbs, for example greater willow-herb. This habitat occurs around ponds in water-filled ditches and as fringing vegetation abutting areas of wet grassland and open water. This habitat is important for a number of priority species (for example water vole and otter) and amongst the most productive for invertebrate species and birds; breeding bird species might include reed and sedge warbler, reed bunting and water rail.

This is a relatively limited habitat in the strategy area. Important examples include those at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Washington (City of Sunderland), Primrose Nature Reserve  (South Tyneside), Shibdon Pond and Watergate Forest Park (Gateshead) and Hetton Bogs (City of Sunderland).

This habitat resource has grown appreciably in the strategy area over recent decades. For example, existing reedbeds have expanded in some areas, for example at Rainton Meadows and Joe's Pond (City of Sunderland), and new areas have been created such as the extensive reedbed at Birtley Sewage Treatment Works, near Kibblesworth, Gateshead.

Grasslands are habitats dominated by a mix of grass, and herb, species. They vary (in terms of species complement and structure) according to the soil type upon which they grow and the wider ecological and climatic conditions they experience through their development. Some grasslands are grazed by livestock, some are cropped (for example for hay) and some are 'artificial', and are created for purely functional reasons, for example sports pitches.

One of the major land uses in the strategy area (built-up areas excepted) is for 'improved grassland', in one form or another. This category of habitat covers a large proportion of the total 'non-urban' land area, probably more than the summed total of all 'semi-natural habitats'.

Such 'grassland' includes agricultural grasslands (for example improved pastures and some arable land, which is a monoculture of grasses such as cereals) and large areas of intensively managed, 'urban grassland' (these occur around urban areas, along transport corridors, as sports pitches and areas of urban greenspace).

Lowland meadows and pasture

Species-rich lowland neutral grassland is floristically important for grasses and herbs. Typically, local examples contain grasses such as crested dog's-tail, meadow foxtail, common bent, creeping fescue, sweet vernal grass, and herbs such as black knapweed, bird's foot-trefoil, yellow rattle, sorrel, greater burnet, cowslip and common spotted orchid.

This habitat is also important for its associated invertebrate fauna; for example the common grassland butterflies, such as small and large skipper, common blue, meadow brown and ringlet. Such unimproved 'wild flower meadow' was traditionally managed for hay production.

This is a habitat that has declined dramatically, in area and qualitatively, over the last 70 years or so. The largest area of such habitat in the strategy area is located in Gateshead but all of the local authority areas hold good examples - such as South Hylton Pasture SSSI (City of Sunderland), the lower Derwent Meadows SSSI (Gateshead) and Boldon Pastures SSSI (South Tyneside).

Limestone grassland

Along its eastern and part of its southern boundary, in both South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland, the strategy area contains a nationally important habitat, magnesian limestone (calcareous) grassland. Examples are often found on unproductive clifftops, steep escarpments and on 'worked out' quarry floors.

These grasslands tend to have a relatively short sward and grow on dry, nutrient poor, strongly alkaline, often shallow, soils. They support a unique flora that includes blue moor-grass, meadow oat-grass, upright brome, quaking grass and herbs such as cowslip, wild thyme, lady's bedstraw, salad burnet, rock rose (on shallow soils or exposed limestone), small scabious, fairy flax and occasionally perennial flax, as well as bee, pyramidal and fragrant orchids. It plays host to an important assemblage of invertebrates.

Some of the best examples are located to the north west of Sunderland and along the coastal strip of South Tyneside, for example Harton Down Hill. Other good sites occur to the south and west of Sunderland, for example Houghton Hill and Cut, Penshaw Hill and Tunstall Hills.

A valuable commercial resource, the quarrying of limestone in South Tyneside and Sunderland over decades has been responsible for impacting upon, and creating, magnesian limestone grassland sites. Such quarries can be found in the north at Marsden (South Tyneside), south and west through the City of Sunderland, and from there inland to Houghton and Hetton. This industry has left a legacy that is now an important biodiversity resource - wildlife-rich old quarry sites, for example Fulwell Quarry and Marsden Old Quarry, in Sunderland and South Tyneside respectively.

Flushed grassland

This is usually damp lowland neutral grassland with, often, spring-fed flushes. The swards of these are frequently rich in sedge species and moisture-loving herbs, such as cuckoo flower and northern marsh orchid, a good example is Hagg Hill Pasture in Gateshead.

Acid grassland

Acid grasslands occur on dry, free-draining, nutrient poor substrate with acid conditions; they often overlie beds of sand and gravel. Representative plants include sheep's fescue, common bent, wavy-hair-grass, sheep's sorrel, heath bedstraw and tormentil. Good examples include Owlet Hill in the Derwent Walk Country Park, Image Hill near Blaydon and the riverside grasslands at Ryton Willows, all in Gateshead. There is a smaller amount of this habitat in the City of Sunderland, for example at Elemore Golf Course.

Lowland heathland

This dwarf shrub habitat, growing at altitudes below 300 metres above sea level, is rare in the strategy area. Dominated by ericaceous plants, usually common heather, (bilberry may also be present), it is found on nutrient-poor acidic substrates, free-draining sandy areas and, sometimes, on damp peaty soils - occasionally on pit spoil (for example at Whitehills in Gateshead). Acid-loving herbs, such as heath bedstraw and tormentil, characterise the sward.

Gateshead has the majority of what is a relatively limited strategy-wide resource, with examples at Burdon Moor, Ousborough Woods and Tanfield Railway Sidings - all sites in the Team valley. This habitat occurs in a limited fashion, along some old railway lines such as on the Bowes Railway Path above the Team valley, and also in Sunderland, at the Eppleton Colliery Railway.

This habitat can also be found, where appropriate substrates occur, within some of the larger planted ancient woodland sites (PAWS) in the Derwent valley, for example in parts of Chopwell Woods and the Gibside Estate. In these instances, heathland occurs in a time-limited fashion, between the clear-fell and scrub re-growth stages of the harvesting cycle, before the habitat is shaded out by the re-stocked timber crop.

The only significantly 'high ground' in the strategy area occurs in western Gateshead. The hills there are flat topped, glacially scoured, and capped by a relatively thick layer of sandstone.  The highest points rise to over 250 m above sea level (for example Broomfield Fell and Currock Hill) and some such as Ravensworth Fell (216m asl), the slopes of which extend over a wide area, retain a genuinely upland feel to them.

Today, a large proportion of this 'upland habitat' is permanent grassland, though as recently as the Second World War, large areas of Ravensworth Fell (sometimes known as Blackburn Fell) were covered by mid-altitude heathland; this was largely destroyed by surface mining. These grasslands are still populated by a suite of 'upland' breeding birds, such as curlew, lapwing and skylarks.

The strategy area's urban areas, which cover a large part of its total land surface, are by no means devoid of wildlife. Many species have adapted to using these places, including bats, birds and many plants. Garden birds (for example dunnocks, blackbirds and titmice) can often be seen where amenity landscaping or gardens are present. At one time this habitat would have held many breeding house sparrows and starlings, and, in the summer, swift and house martin (which rarely nest anywhere else) - all of these have declined dramatically in recent decades.

Between settlements, extensive areas of landscaped greenspace along roadsides and similar areas have formed 'secondary amenity woodland', that - as trees and shrubs mature - provide habitat for birds such as greenfinch, goldfinch, magpie and mistle thrush, as well as corridors along which wildlife can disperse. By way of example, there are extensive tracts of such habitat on land planted during the development of Washington 'New Town', between 1960 and 1980. These occur within and around the villages of the town and along the river corridor covered by the 'linear' James Steel Park (City of Sunderland). Ornamental berry-bearing bushes in such areas sometimes attract spectacular wintering species, such as waxwing.

Nesting gulls are now a commonplace feature of many urban locations across the area. Herring gull has nested on rooftops close to the rivers Tyne and Wear since the mid-1960s. From the early 1980s, it was joined by lesser black-backed gull and both of these species of conservation concern nest, often in good numbers, on rooftops and in industrial estates across South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland. More unusual in this respect, is the inland breeding colony of kittiwakes centred around Gateshead and Newcastle quaysides; the furthest inland such colony in the world.

Transport corridors

The development of the road and rail network has typically resulted in the loss and fragmentation of habitats and their associated species. Nonetheless, the landscaped verges of major roads and rail lines within the strategy area (for example the A184 from South Tyneside into central Gateshead), now play an important role in facilitating the movement of wildlife through the landscape including into the urban centres, and some of these now provide valuable areas of semi-natural habitat in their own right.

Parks and gardens

As a habitat, parks and gardens are found across the strategy area, in particular around the conurbation fringes and less densely developed settlements for example West Boldon, South Tyneside.

Gardens, when varied and mature, can be important for a range of invertebrates. The range of such species that can be found in this habitat has altered dramatically in recent times. For example, both the comma and speckled wood butterfly are now 'typical' garden species but they were almost unknown in the strategy area during the early 1990s. The northward procession of these species is now being mirrored by the holly blue. Even once-exotic southern migrant species, such as the hummingbird hawk-moth, might sometimes be found feeding on the nectar of garden flowers in the Strategy Area.

As elsewhere, a sea change occurred in the public's attitudes to garden wildlife in the late 20^th century, when many people started to feed birds. This trend has continued and this is now important for the winter survival strategies of many common garden species. Some species that would not have been considered garden wildlife two human generations ago are now frequent visitors to such locations, for example great spotted woodpecker and tree sparrow. In suburban areas, the wood pigeon is ubiquitous and collared dove, common. Magpies are common at urban feeding stations, jay and pheasant - and hedgehog - are now expected species at urban-fringe locations and where mature woodlands are close by, nuthatch and even badgers appear. Species that were once alien to gardens, such as siskin and goldfinch and insectivores, like the long-tailed tit are routinely noted at feeders.

The long established municipal parks of the area - Mowbray Park in Sunderland, South Marine Park in South Tyneside and Saltwell Park in Gateshead, all have areas of mature 'park woodland' and extensive shrubberies that host common breeding birds and attract wintering or migrant birds. Their respective, rather formal, water bodies also attract a range of wildfowl.

Post-industrial

Across the strategy area there is an abundance of old industrial sites, consequent to the industrial decline it suffered over decades. These can be important for wildlife and many aspects of wildlife have adapted to 'brownfield sites'. This includes bee orchids growing next to the Gateshead Metrocentre, nesting common terns in Sunderland Docks, and ringed plover on sites adjacent to the Tyne in Gateshead in the 1990s.

One habitat that often develops in such nutrient-poor locations is sparsely vegetated, herb-rich grassland with areas of bare ground. This is the favoured habitat of the dingy skipper butterfly. Tanfield Railway Sidings, in the upper Team valley in Gateshead and Wardley Colliery at Follingsby in South Tyneside support regionally/nationally important populations of this species.

Where low scrub develops, this can be important for breeding linnet, and such sites may attract flocks in the late summer when abundant flowering ruderal weeds such as docks and black knapweed provide birds with foraging opportunities.

Post-industrial sites can also be important for a range of mammals, often providing town-based locations for foxes to den, hedgehogs to forage and habitat for common small mammals (such as common shrew, wood mouse and bank vole), which in turn, attract predatory birds such as kestrel and barn owl.

There are 19.5 kilometers of coastline between the Tyne's mouth just north of Littlehaven Beach, South Shields, and the southern coastal boundary of the City of Sunderland at the mouth of Ryhope Dene. The Hendon to Ryhope Dene section of the strategy area's coast is part of the Durham Heritage Coast. Along this there are a range of significant wildlife habitats, including magnesian limestone grassland, seabird cliffs, sand dunes, vegetated shingle, sandy beaches and their strandlines, and rocky shores.

The area's foreshores contain a plethora of intertidal flora and fauna in rock pools and along sandy shores, as well as in the shallow, offshore waters. These in turn attract wintering wading birds and wildfowl.

The cliffs of South Tyneside's coastline host a large mixed seabird colony, which numbers thousands of pairs of nesting seabirds - kittiwakes, fulmars, razorbills, cormorants and herring gulls. The ornithological and botanical significance of this coastline has been recognised by its inclusion in the Northumbria Coast Special Protection Area (SPA) and it is also a Ramsar site. At passage periods, particularly in the autumn, sites such as Whitburn Steel (South Tyneside), attract large numbers of roosting common, Arctic, and sandwich terns.

The coastline also performs an important function as a 'natural corridor' for wildlife, facilitating the dispersal and migration of migrant birds and, a little way offshore, cetaceans.

Along much of the area's coastal strip there are extensive grasslands, for example the South Shields and Marsden Leas (South Tyneside) with sparsely scattered areas of scrub. Such scrub tends to be low-growing and wind-sculpted, comprising hardy species such as hawthorn and blackthorn, with gorse on free-draining soils. This can be important for migrating birds, particularly in autumn. Important such habitat is found at various locations from Trow, south to Marsden, Whitburn, and the City of Sunderland.

Onshore winds, during migration, sometimes bring 'falls' of migrant birds. On arrival, these make for the first available vegetative cover, often in quarries (for example Marsden Quarry) or parks (for example the North and South Marine Parks, South Tyneside). By virtue of its location, the strategy area attracts a variety of rare birds.

The southern section of coastline was part of the coast famously impacted by man's coal mining activities from the mid-19^th century to the mid-1990s. Since then, time and tide have returned the coast to a more normal profile and state, and coastal wildlife, on and offshore, has recovered to a degree.

At the southern coastal limit, Ryhope Dene is the area's only significantly-sized example of the easterly draining wooded denes of the limestone coast. As well as containing a range of flowering plants and bryophytes, it is an important refuge for passage migrants.

Maritime cliffs and slopes

Maritime cliffs and slopes are well represented between Trow Point and Whitburn Bents (South Tyneside) and, south of Sunderland, between Hendon and Ryhope Dene.

Along South Tyneside's coast there are sea stacks and deeply fissured weathered cliffs, overlaid by boulder clay and herb-rich grasslands. The cliffs reach their highest point (over 30m) at Marsden Bay and Lizard Point. At Marsden Bay, these provide a base for the largest seabird colony between the Farne Isles (Northumberland) and Bempton Cliffs (North Yorkshire).

From coastal headlands, such as Lizard and Souter Point (South Tyneside), the offshore movements of seabirds can be observed and, in favourable autumn conditions, these same locations may provide migrants with their first landfall after crossing the North Sea.

Rocky shores and sandy beaches

Shorelines of both sand and rock are present along the strategy area's coast. The area's rocky foreshores, for example at Whitburn Steel, with their rock pool complexes, host a range of marine life with many species of seaweeds, molluscs, fish and crustaceans. They provide feeding grounds for wintering wading birds including curlews, redshank, purple sandpiper and turnstone, and the habitat-restricted rock pipit.

Sandy beaches, such as those at Roker (in the City of Sunderland) and Sandhaven (South Tyneside), attract not only people but, in the winter, foraging wading birds such as sanderling and ringed plover, plus many gulls.

Sand dunes

Coastal sand dunes are a rare habitat in the strategy area. Small amounts are found near Whitburn, City of Sunderland, and South Shields, South Tyneside. This habitat can be botanically rich, in the context of its location, with plants such as sea sandwort, sea rocket, spear-leaved and grass-leaved orache growing, and, higher up the dune, grasses such as sea couch, marram and lyme-grass.

These areas are weather-dynamic in terms of substrates, and, partly as a consequence of their location at 'in demand' coastal locations, are prone to human-related impacts for example disturbance and erosion.