Falmouth Group 8

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The Fal estuary is located on the south coast of Cornwall, it extends 18 km inland from its entrance between Pendennis Point and St. Anthony Head. It is the UK’s  largest estuary and the world’s third largest natural harbour. The estuary can be divided into two main sections: the inner tidal tributaries and the outer tidal basin. The outer basin is known as Carrick Roads and makes up over 80% of the estuary. The Northern section of the estuary comprises of 6 main tributaries and 28 minor creeks and rivers. Significant sediment deposition and human modifications have caused the creeks to fill with silt. The high rates of sedimentation experienced in the creeks are not experienced within Carrick Roads due to low sediment input and low tidal currents.

T H E   F A L   E S T U A R Y


The Fal was designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2006, and is protected under European Union law. The area is listed under DEFRA as an Annex 1 habitat, (defined as “habitats of community interest whose conservation requires the designation of SAC’s”), and is strictly regulated to fall within the aims of the Good Environmental Status (GES), which ensures that ecosystems are fully functioning and resilient to human-induced environmental change.

There are several Annex 1 habitats within the current SAC boundary including: Sandbanks, gravel, sands, Zostera eel grass-beds, maerl-beds, mudflats, reefs and shallow inlets and bays.

The sub-tidal sandbanks cover a large part of the lower Carrick Roads, extending across Falmouth Bay and into the mouth of the Helford river. This particularly sheltered site has a low tidal range and a wide range of substrates, resulting in one of the most biologically rich examples of sandbanks in the UK. These sublittoral sandbanks are present throughout the Ria system and are particularly rich in sand-invertebrate communities, such as the Zostera eelgrass marina beds found near the mouth of both the Fal and Helford estuaries. Of particular importance are the maerl beds that occur in the lower Fal on St Mawes Bank, and the extensive areas of maerl gravel which extend throughout the Carrick Roads and Falmouth Bay. These areas are specially protected, and are the subject of major recent controversy regarding estuarine dredging.


T H E  F A L  A S  A  S P E C I A L  A R E A  O F  C O N S I D E R A T I O N  (SAC)