Editing Holkham National Nature Reserve (section)

== Description ==
[[File:Holkhammapcapped.jpg|thumb|400px|Publicly accessible part of the NNR:
{{image key
|{{Legend|#FFFFFF|Pasture and dunes}}
|{{Legend|#009A00|Pines}}
|{{Legend|#FFCC67|Tidal foreshore and salt marsh}}
|{{Legend|#8516B7|Roads and car parks}}
|{{Legend|#FC0002|Bird hides}}
|'''SHI''': [[Scolt Head Island]] NNR
|'''HB''': Holkham Bay
|'''WS''': Wells [[salt marshes]] (part of Holkham NNR)
}}]]
The reserve lies to the north of the [[A149 road|A149 coast road]], starting just west of [[Burnham Overy|Burnham Overy Staithe]] and extending west past [[Holkham]] to Beach Road, [[Wells-next-the-Sea]]. It also includes the tidal [[salt marshes]] continuing further east to [[Blakeney, Norfolk|Blakeney]].<ref name= holkham17>[[Natural England]] (2009) pp. 17–19.</ref> Its total area of about {{convert|3900|ha|acre}} makes it the largest NNR in England.<ref name= allen148/> The reserve can be accessed by footpaths from Wells and the local villages<ref name=holkhamestateexploren>{{cite web | title= Exploring the National Nature Reserve | url= http://www.holkham.co.uk/naturereserve/explore.html | publisher= Holkham Estate | url-status=dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121215095452/http://www.holkham.co.uk/naturereserve/explore.html | archive-date= 2012-12-15 }} Retrieved 3 September 2012.</ref> including the [[Peddars Way|Peddars Way/Norfolk Coast]] [[long-distance trail]] that traverses the main part of the reserve, and [[National Cycle Route 1]] loops through the core of the NNR between Holkham and Wells.<ref name = sustrans>{{cite web | title= Route 1 | work= National Cycle Routes | url= http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/national-cycle-network/route-numbering-system/route-1 | publisher= [[Sustrans]] | access-date= 2012-09-03 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120920235702/http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/national-cycle-network/route-numbering-system/route-1 | archive-date= 2012-09-20 | url-status= dead }} Retrieved 3 September 2012.</ref> There is a car park near Holkham village at the north end of Lady Anne's Drive that gives access to two [[bird hide]]s, and another parking area at the end of Beach Road in Wells. To the east of the Wells Channel, the reserve is mainly salt marshes and [[mud flats]], and is difficult and potentially dangerous to access, although a public footpath runs along the southern edge of these tidal areas.<ref name = holkham/><ref name=holkhamestatereach>{{cite web | title= Reaching Holkham | url= http://www.holkham.co.uk/naturereserve/reaching.html | publisher= Holkham Estate | url-status=dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121215100243/http://www.holkham.co.uk/naturereserve/reaching.html | archive-date= 2012-12-15 }} Retrieved 3 September 2012.</ref>

The [[salt marsh]]es on this coast are stated in the [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] (SSSI) notification document to be "among the best in Europe&nbsp;...&nbsp;the flora is exceptionally diverse". Holkham also has good examples of [[dune|sand dunes]], and the [[pine]]s planted on the dunes have provided shelter for other trees and shrubs to become established, making this the only substantial area of woodland in the North Norfolk Coast SSSI.<ref name = encitation/> The dunes are created and altered by the elements, and the sand islands in Holkham Bay have formed only within the last 60 years.<ref name = holkham/> The flat ground inland from the dunes is a reclaimed salt marsh that was used as [[pasture]] until the 1940s, but converted to [[arable land]] during [[World War II]]. The value of the fields to wildlife was reduced by the resulting lower [[water table]], but [[Natural England]]'s management measures have raised the water levels, attracting breeding and wintering birds.<ref name = holkham/> Water management can also be used to ensure a high water table in summer, benefiting breeding waders, and drier conditions in winter, preferred by the geese.<ref name=vickery>{{cite journal | last= Vickery | first= J A | author2=Sutherland, W J| author3=O'Brien, M| author4=Watkinson, A R| author5=Yallop A | year=1997 | title= Managing coastal grazing marshes for breeding waders and overwintering geese: Is there a conflict? | journal= [[Biological Conservation (journal)|Biological Conservation]] | volume= 79 | issue =1 | pages= 23–24 | doi = 10.1016/S0006-3207(96)00111-5 }}</ref> The management of water levels and grassland increased the number of breeding wetland birds from 120 pairs of ten species in 1986 to 795 pairs of 26 species in 1994, and the number of wintering birds of four key wildfowl species rose from 1,215 to 17,305 in the decade from 1983/84.<ref name= harold>{{cite journal | last= Harold | first= Ron | year=1994 | title= Holkham grazing marshes N.N.R | journal= Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists Society Transactions | volume= 30 | issue = 2 Supplement: Norfolk Bird & Mammal Report 1993 | pages=123–130 }}</ref>