Saving the small things that run the planetThe Thames Estuary is a diverse landscape, with a rich mosaic of natural estuarine habitats and wildlife-rich grasslands and brownfields that have been shaped by the region’s complex industrial past. Sadly, the Lower Thames Crossing is the latest in a series of approved schemes and developments in the area that threaten its special wildlife.
Update March 2025: The Secretary of State for Transport has granted a development consent order for the Lower Thames Crossing – giving it the green light after years of controversy.
The Lower Thames Crossing is expected to see huge losses of habitat within the Thames Estuary North and Thames Estuary South Important Invertebrate Area, areas that support nationally rare and threatened species such as the Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum), Hornet Robberfly (Asilus crabroniformis), Large Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena hattorfiana) and Long-horned Cleg (Haematopota grandis), among dozens of species of conservation concern. Surveys have even re-found the ruby-tailed wasp Hedychrum rutilans, which has been classed as Extinct in the UK, recorded having not been seen since 1902.
The Lower Thames Crossing will see a new tunnel bored under the River Thames, running west of East Tilbury to the east of Gravesend. Importantly for wildlife, it will also see the creation of over 14 miles of new road, widening of the existing road network and create a sprawling series of work compounds. This new scheme is expected to have a profound impact on wildlife in the Thames Estuary, which combined with the loss of other nationally important sites in the area could prove disastrous for invertebrates.
The route will see the loss or impacts on the Shorne and Ashenbank Woods Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a number of Local Wildlife Sites, including Low Street Pit, Blackshots Nature Area, Mucking Heath and Rainbow Shaw. This includes grassland and scrub mosaics, wildlife-rich brownfields, ancient woodland with veteran trees, and rare fragments of remnant acid grassland and heath.
The Thames Estuary areas of Essex and Kent have long been known as special places for rare wildlife, with nationally important populations of invertebrates, including those found nowhere else in the UK. However, it is also an area that is increasingly under pressure from intensive land management and the spread of housing and industrial developments. In recent years there have been threats to a number of high-profile sites for invertebrates, including West Thurrock Marshes, the Swanscombe Peninsula and Tilbury Power Station.
The Lower Thames Crossing will further fragment the valuable habitats of the region. Many invertebrates need networks of sites to be able to move across the landscape and between habitats. The scale of the Lower Thames Crossing threatens the long-term future of some nationally rare and scarce species in the Thames Estuary.
A Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) application for the Lower Thames Crossing opened in June 2023 and closed in December 2023. The Secretary of State for Transport made the final decision to approve the scheme in March 2025.
Buglife worked with a coalition of conservation partners, including the Woodland Trust, Kent Wildlife Trust, CPRE Kent, Transport Action Network and Thames Crossing Action Group to oppose the proposals.
