Sites and Habitats
The quality and character of Devon’s landscape has long been recognised as one of the county’s most important assets and the reason why our biodiversity is so diverse. Devon’s complex geology has created a striking diversity of landscapes including windswept high moors of Dartmoor and Exmoor, heathlands, secluded valleys, rugged coastlines, sweeping bays and rolling farmland.
The importance of these landscapes is reflected by 35% of Devon being covered by a landscape designation. We have two National Parks (Dartmoor and Exmoor) and five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Blackdown Hills, East Devon, North Devon, South Devon and Tamar Valley). National and local designations provide status for some of our most threatened sites at varying levels of protection. Whilst statutory sites are managed by Natural England, DBRC are the custodian of the Local Sites framework in Devon.
Habitats
Over the last 20 years, DBRC has collected field scale habitat data through it’s own surveys and those of it’s many partners. This data has been used to produce the best available dataset in the county, which continually recieves 100’s of updates every year.
As sites are revisited, we continually upgrade and improve the confidence of this evidence base, adding important factors such as condition and management status. This information is vital to inform decision making, planning, project development, and is vital in the development of the new Nature Recovery Network project. You can find more information about the DBRC’s contributions to the NRN on our Current Projects page.
County Wildlife Sites
There are approximately 2,200 County Wildlife Sites (CWS) across Devon comprising a range of habitats and species. Unlike Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), CWS are not legally protected but comprise a network of non-statutory wildlife sites. Some CWS, however, can be of similar ecological quality to SSSIs.
CWS make up nearly 30,000 hectares, approximately 4% of Devon and have been designated due to the presence of particular habitats and species such as traditionally managed species-rich lowland meadows, upland oak woodlands, lowland fens and mires (such as culm grassland). Some sites have been designated due to the presence of particular species such as cirl bunting, bastard balm and great crested newt.
This framework is locally led and funded and does not receive government support, however, its ability to be far more agile than national statutory designations means it plays significant part in ensuring sites of high biodiversity value outside of SSSI, are recognised and protected.
CWS are designated using a strict set of criteria and each site is assessed against these criteria by a panel of experts. Please read the document below for more information.
CWS in Devon were initially surveyed and subsequently designated in the early 1990s to create information on the network of wildlife-rich habitats in the county. New CWS have been designated since this time helping to develop the huge amount of data we hold on CWS today.
The Biodiversity Monitoring Framework project has been in operation since 2009 and as a part of this project, we survey approximately 80 existing CWS per year.
For more information about CWS please contact us at pseymour@devonwildlifetrust.org