The Lea Valley contains a number of different ecosystems, including forests, pastureland, marshlands, the estuary and the coast. All support an abundance of plant and animal life.
Today, conifers and eucalyptus are the dominant species in the forests, although the landscape is also dotted with oak, beech and chestnut groves. n the cliffs and the slopes facing the sea, you can find Cantabrian holm oak groves, along with areas of heather, brambles, grasses and other shrubs.
Local birds include cormorants, different varieties of gull, herons, spoonbills, kingfishers, txirria, kurlinka and common loons, among others. Mammals include wild boar and roe deer, with others such as badgers, foxes, weasels, hedgehogs, squirrels, moles, genets and the endangered European mink occasionally making an appearance also.
The wetland at the mouth of the River Lea is home to algae and plankton, as well as the usual fish, molluscs and crustaceans, including blackbelly rosefish, Thornback rays, horse mackerel, greater weevers, mackerel, sand eels, eels, red mullet, black sea bream and sea bass.
