New SSSI for Cornwall

Natural England recently designated a new Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall.  Mid Cornwall Moors SSSI  covers a massive 1,657ha and includes five other previously notified SSSIs in the mid-Cornwall area. We are proud to be able to say that our botanical survey  work contributed to the process of designation.

In 2015 we won a competitive bid for a contract with Natural England to undertake a large botanical study of more than 500ha on the mid-Cornwall moors. Focusing on rare habitats such as wet woodland, rush pasture and mires, the field survey for this project used the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) to identify all plant communities within areas of target habitat.

The survey involved our botanists scientifically sampling vegetation from more than 150 sites by identifying and recording all plant species within over 300 ‘quadrats’  (typically 2m x 2m squares). We also assessed habitat quality using Common Standards Monitoring (CSM), the standard methodology for monitoring the condition of important plant communities within protected sites such as SSSIs.

The boundaries and distribution of over 1000 vegetation units were mapped in the field using GPS to produce a detailed, colour-coded plan of each site. We hope you’ll agree from the example above  that we produced some pretty colourful maps!

We are really excited that the results of our survey work played an important part in Natural England’s decision to designate the new SSSI.  The new site safeguards some great Cornish landmarks such as Goss  Moor and Helman Tor and secures important habitats for rare species such as the marsh fritillary butterfly, its food-plant devil’s-bit scabious and one of the highest densities of breeding willow tit in the country.