New Forest - Sembcorp Bournemouth Water

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Appendix A: SSSI citationCounty: Hampshire/WiltshireSite Name: New Forest SSSIStatus: Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) notified underSection 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981Local Planning Authority: Hampshire County Council, NewForest District Council, Wiltshire County Council, SalisburyDistrict Council, Test Valley Borough CouncilNational Grid Reference: SU 298081Ordnance Survey Sheet 1:50,000: 195, 196 1:25,000: SU 10,11, 20, 21, 30, 31, 40, SZ 29, 39Area: 28,947.37 (ha) 71,528.95 (ac)Date Notified (Under 1949 Act): 1959, 1971, 1974Date of Last Revision: 1979Date Notified (Under 1981 Act): 7 May 1987Date of Previous Revision: 1987Date of Last Revision: 28 February 1996Date Confirmed: 14 November 1996Other Information:The New Forest is classified as a Grade 1 site in ‘A NatureConservation Review’ edited by D. A. Ratcliffe (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1977) and includes seven GeologicalConservation Review sites. The major part of the site has beendesignated as a Special Protection Area under the EC Directive79/409 on the Conservation of Wild Birds and as a Ramsar Siteunder the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of InternationalImportance. The site is mainly Crown Land together with themanorial wastes of Plaitford, Furzley, Half Moon, Cadnam, HalePurlieu and Hightown Commons belonging to the National Trust;Hyde and Gorley Commons and parts of Rockford and Ibsleyowned by Hampshire County Council; the rest of Rockford andIbsley Commons, Minstead Manor, Kingston Great Common,Bisterne Common, West Wellow and Copythorne Common andmost of the unimproved meadows are privately owned. Partof Kingston Great Common is a National Nature Reserve andthere are three reserves managed by the Hampshire WildlifeTrust at Bagnum, Long Aldermoor and Holmsley. The CrownLand is managed by the Forestry Commission on behalf of theMinister of Agriculture. The Court of Verderers have statutorypowers within the Forest although they own very little land andno domestic stock. The Forestry Commission, along with theVerderers, and English Nature have signed a Minute of Intentwhich provides for the participation of English Nature in thepreparation of management plans and consultation over annualmanagement programmes. Selected areas were notified in 1959and a much larger area in 1971. Further additions were made in1974, 1979 and 1987.Reasons for Notification:The New Forest embraces the largest area of ‘unsown’vegetation in lowland England and includes the representationon a large scale of habitat formations formerly common butnow fragmented and rare in lowland western Europe. Theyinclude lowland heath, valley and seepage step mire, or fen, andancient pasture woodland, including riparian and bog woodland.Nowhere else do these habitats occur in combination and onso large a scale. There are about 4,600 hectares of pasturewoodland and scrub dominated by oak, beech and holly; 11,800hectares of heathland and associated grassland; 3,300 hectaresof wet heath and valley mire-fen and also 8,400 hectares ofplantations dating from various periods since the early 18thcentury. Within this matrix of habitats are a range of acid toneutral grasslands where the vegetation owes much to the localgeology and continuous grazing, a situation which is uncommonin lowland England. Scattered around the New Forest andthroughout the small pockets of enclosed farmland are a seriesof unimproved meadows which have similarities with theseOpen Forest grasslands.A network of small streams draining the system form an unusualcommunity which results from the combination of nutrient-poor,acid waters and outcrops of neutral enriched soils.There are many ponds of varying sizes and water chemistryincluding several ephemeral ponds. This wide range of habitatssupport an assemblage of nationally rare and scarce plantsand a nationally important assemblage of rare and scarceinvertebrates. The area supports internationally importantbreeding populations of certain bird species and the winteringpopulation of another as well as an assemblage of birdsassociated with specific habitats such as old woodland orwetlands. Within the New Forest there are seven sites which areof special geological or physiographic interest including valleymires, the headwaters of the Highland Water, stream sectionswith exposures of fossil-bearing strata and a gravel pit rich inpalaeolithic artefacts.The New Forest is probably sufficiently large to ensure thelong term survival of the characteristic flora and fauna withinthe wide range of habitats. Smaller isolated examples of thecomponent habitats are vulnerable to biological impoverishmentbut here in the New Forest has survived largely because of thepersistence of a pastoral economy based on the exercise ofcommon rights of grazing and mast together with protectionafforded by Crown ownership. This, and the management ofvegetation in the Open Forest through burning and cuttingprogrammes, administered by the Forestry Commission on theCrown Lands, maintains the quality of the grazings, ensures theprevention of natural succession and encourages local diversityin plant communities. The pastoral economy in turn depends onthe continued existence of a small community of commonerswho make up a discrete social unit and this combination ofnatural and cultural elements contributes to the maintenance ofthe New Forest habitats.Geomorphologically the Forest comprises a series of erodedterraces capped with flint gravel, brickearth and other superficialdeposits. The terraces are highest and most fragmented byerosion in the north and lowest and most complete in the south.Erosion has exposed the underlying Tertiary strata, in widevalleys and hollows separating the terraces. Soils are mainlyacid, poor in nutrients, susceptible to leaching and only slowlypermeable. Locally, however, there are enriched areas such asthe exposed Headon Beds in the south which support relativelyspecies-rich grassland or mire floras. The Forest streams, miresand abundant wet flushes along slope springlines help to create12 New Forest – Guidelines for maintenance operations within sensitive areas
a humid microclimate which, in the woodlands in particular,provides the right conditions for epiphytic lichens, bryophytesand ferns, a situation which has become rare elsewhere.The unenclosed woodlands are dominated by oak and beech invarying proportions. Oak is generally dominant on the heaviersoils, and some areas comprise nearly monospecific oakwoods,whereas the beech tends to dominate on sandy knolls andwell drained terrace edges. Holly is the dominant shrub layerspecies. The number of tree species is higher in linear riverinewoodland where ash is abundant and carr of alder, sallow andholly are common. Age structure of the woodland is closelyrelated to past fluctuations in herbivore densities. The oldestgeneration of trees still standing are oaks and beeches of early17th century origin. A high proportion of these and later 17thcentury trees are pollarded. The main younger generationshave arisen since about the mid 19th century. Older treessupport the richest known woodland lichen flora in lowlandEurope, and an exceptionally species-rich deadwood fauna,mainly beetles Coleoptera, including the stag beetle Lucanuscervus and now rare in Europe, and flies Diptera. The lichenflora includes two rare species, Catillaria laureri and Parmeliaminarum (Sch.8)**. The woods are also rich in fungi that arespecific to pasture woodland such as Hericium erinaceous,Mycena picta, Creolophus circhatus and Flammulaster limulata.The woodland ground flora varies according to soil type butgrazing often gives the impression of it being impoverished. Onbase-rich soils, however, species diversity increases with grazingwhereas on more acid soils the vascular plants may be reducedbut bryophytes become more extensive and diverse. Woodlandspecies such as Dicranum majus, Rhitidiadelphus loreus andLeucobryum juniperoideum can be common whilst rarer speciesinclude Bassania trilobuta and Saccogyna viticulosa. The vascularplants include about 60 species associated with old woodland.These older trees also support a high density of holenesting,insectivorous birds, such as redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus,and provide roost sites for several species of bat including thevery rare Bechstein’s bat Myotis bechsteini**The sylvicultural enclosures include 40% broad-leaved trees,mainly oak and beech, which, with the unenclosed woods,comprises the largest tract of native broad-leaved woodlandin southern England. The inclosures include many fragments offormer pasture woods totalling about 285 hectares and theseare relatively unmodified by enclosure. Much of the remainingbroad-leaved component comprises mature oak plantationwhich when in proximity to unenclosed woodland can takeon the characteristics of pasture woodland. In South BentleyInclosure the epiphytic flora has developed with similar speciesto the adjacent unenclosed Anses Wood. Some of the inclosureshave only low grazing pressure and the ground flora thenprovides food plants for certain invertebrates, such as silverwashedfritillary Argynnis paphia and white admiral Limenitiscamilla.The heathlands, including grass heaths and acid grasslandscomprise a series of plant communities, the composition ofwhich is related to soil structure and permeability and theeffects of grazing. Dry heath dominated by heather Callunavulgaris and bell heather Erica cinerea and bristle bent Agrostiscurtisii grades into humid heath in which cross-leaved heathErica tetralix and purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea areconstant species. The humid heath on slowly permeable andoften seasonally waterlogged soils is spatially dominant herealthough only recognised as a transitional community elsewhere.On the wetter humic soils heather becomes less frequent andtypically deer grass Trichophorum cespitosum, heath rush Juncussquarrosus and the ‘smaller’ Sphagnum species Sphagnumcompactum and S. tenellum become frequent. The heathlandshave well-developed lichen-rich communities in which a numberof Cladonia species are present. These include the nationallyscarce C. incrassata and an abundance of species such asC. strepsilis and Pycnothelia papillaria. Other lowland plantsoccur such as the rare dung fungus Poronia punctata whichgrows on pony dung. Within the heathland mosaic, on pocketsof richer soils, acid grassland occurs. These areas can changefrom grass to heath depending on the grazing intensity. Theyare dominated by bristle bent and purple moor-grass withvarying amounts of heather, gorse Ulex europaeus and brackenPteridium aquilinum.The acid to neutral grasslands are strongly influenced by theunderlying geology and by grazing. The naturally infertilesoils support herb-rich vegetation communities on the drierbrown earths and stagnogleys and a complex range of wetacid grasslands on gleys and peats. The acid grasslands areoften quite extensive, relatively species-rich and comprise twomain elements: (a) species which benefit from heavy grazingand are mostly prostrate or are able to survive in dwarf formand (b) species which are less palatable. The former includesrosette forming species such as hawkbits Leontodon, cat’s-earHypochoeris radicata, mouse-ear hawkweed Hieracium pilosellaand yarrow Achillea millefolium and a profusion of small herbswith low growth forms such as tormentil Potentilla erecta, heathbedstraw Galium saxatile, lousewort Pedicularis sylvatica, selfheal Prunella vulgaris, eyebrights Euphrasia, squirrel-tail fescueVulpia bromoides, all-seed Radiola linoides and numerous sedges.The less palatable species with a more upright growth forminclude yellow centaury Cicendia filiformis which is nationallyscarce, common centaury Centaurium erythraea, field gentianGentianella campestre and moonwort Botrychium lunaria.The more neutral grasslands known locally as ‘lawns’ occur aslinear features following many of the small streams, roadsideverges around settlements – village greens, and as glades inassociation with pasture woodland. They are influenced by suchfactors as soils, topography, the nutrient quality of floodwaterand frequency of numbers of grazing animals. Typical specieson the wetter lawns are velvet bent Agrostis canina and anabundance of wetland sedges, rushes and herbs. The driercommunities around settlements are dominated by commonbent-grass Agrostis capillaris with some perennial rye-grassLolium perenne, crested dog’s-tail Cynosurus cristatus, daisyBellis perennis, and most distinctively mats of abundantchamomile Chamaemelum nobilis, which is nationally rare anddeclining. Associated with these settlement edge lawns that areseasonally poached and heavily grazed are an assemblage ofnationally rare and scarce plants. They include small fleabanePulicaria vulgaris and pennyroyal Mentha pulegium both (RDB)*(Sch 8)**. Slender marsh bedstraw Galium debile (RDB)* andcoral necklace Illecebrum verticillatum, which is nationallyscarce, also occur. Hampshire purslane Ludwigia palustris (RDB)*New Forest – Guidelines for maintenance operations within sensitive areas 13
Page 4 and 5: 2. Introduction and scopeSembcorp B
Page 8 and 9: As a matter of policy, Ramsar sites
Page 10 and 11: 9.8.4 All bats and their roostsThes
Page 13: AppendicespageAppendix A: SSSI cita
Page 17 and 18: species, such as the New Forest Cic
Page 19 and 20: ■ Old acidophilous oak woods with
Page 21 and 22: Wintering: Hen HarrierIt also quali
Page 23 and 24: New Forest - Guidelines for mainten
Page 25 and 26: Appendix G: Process water with use
Page 27 and 28: Appendix K: Notification forms for

New Forest - Sembcorp Bournemouth Water

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