Fisher’s Estuarine Moth is vulnerable to several threats, particularly habitat loss due to coastal flooding and historically inappropriate habitat management. The species is legally protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is the only UK moth listed under Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive. Ringwood and Iley outline the ongoing conservation efforts of habitat creation, sea wall management and captive breeding that are used to meet the challenges of the species’ survival and ensure its future in Essex.
Hamford Water is a remote part of the north Essex coast, known locally as the Walton Backwaters and as Secret Water in the title of Arthur Ransome’s (1939) classic children’s book. The mudflats, saltmarsh, vegetated shingle, sea walls, grassland and islands of this estuarine basin are a wildlife haven, particularly for overwintering wetland birds, beach-nesting birds, Common Seal Phoca vitulina and several Nationally Scarce plants, including Hog’s Fennel Peucedanum officinale, Shrubby Sea-blite Suaeda vera, Golden-samphire Inula crithmoides and Lax-flowered Sea-lavender Limonium humile.