Causeway Coast voted favourite UK spot for wildlife

Launching the poll in January to celebrate BBC Wildlife’s 60th birthday, we asked 60 people from our network of conservationists, writers, presenters and photographers to share their favourite places for wildlife in the UK. The resulting array of locations across the country – from remote Scottish isles to the north Cornish Coast – were then put to a public vote and the Top 10 decided in a YouGov poll.

The winner is the stunning Causeway Coast, a wild place of outstanding natural beauty with dunes, sheer cliffs and the amazing rock formations of the magnificent Giant’s Causeway. The region also hosts a wonderful wealth of marine wildlife, from seals to basking sharks.

Tara Shine, an environmental scientist who nominated the Causeway Coast, comments, “I’m absolutely delighted that the Causeway Coast has been voted the UK’s favourite place for wildlife.

'While studying at Ulster University, I spent some of my most memorable days near, in and under the water here, catching waves off the sandy beach at Portrush, snorkelling with curious grey seals, and scuba-diving off the Skerries and below the dramatic cliffs of Rathlin Island, where I glided over stony reefs with dogfish and among shipwrecks with conger eels. I hope more people can experience the natural wonders of this little-known gem, and support local efforts to protect and enhance it. You will find peace, an abundance of wildlife and a warm welcome from those people who call it home.”

BBC Wildlife Editor Paul McGuiness adds, “Since we launched our quest to find the nation’s favourite place for wildlife, it’s been a joy to really delve into the huge variety of wildlife we have in these islands. From the clear waters of the Isles of Scilly to the majesty of the Scottish Highlands, and everything in between, we have so much to celebrate and enjoy right here on our doorstep”.

In second place is South London’s Wimbledon Common, nominated by author Jini Reddy. Covering 460 hectares of green space, the capital’s famous green lung is both an SSSI and Special Area of Conservation, thanks to its rich grassland and heathland, and provides a home to a diversity of wildlife including badgers, foxes, kestrels and kingfishers.

In third place is Scotland’s Scaur Glen, nominated by the BTO’s Juliet Vickery. The Scaur River passes through this glen, bubbling through moorland, meandering through sheep pasture and tumbling through wooded riverbanks to Penpont. On its lower stretches, you can glimpse the dippers and grey wagtails; upstream, you may spot common sandpipers and oystercatchers; while above the treeline are occasional breeding peregrines.

The beautiful Isles of Scilly, off Cornwall follows in fourth, with Yorkshire’s Rodley Nature Reserve in fifth.

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