County Wildife Site Criteria for Cornwall - Cornwall Wildlife Trust

species group criteria should be examined for additionalsignificant interest under other species groups.G In certain cases it is permissible to designateCWS within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).SSSIs may include features of “substantive” natureconservation interest, important in the local context, inaddition to the features that are internationally/nationallysignificant for which the site has been designated.Liaison with Natural England is important to ensurea co-ordinated approach to the conservation andmanagement of the site. Natural England should beencouraged to incorporate management for the locallysignificant feature within the management advice theygive the landowner for the whole SSSI. This will only bepossible if there is no conflict with management for thefeature(s) for which the SSSI has been designated.Where a SSSI is part of a larger area of substantive natureconservation interest in the local context, the area outsidethe SSSI should be considered for selection as a local siteand assessed separately against the agreed criteria. Thismay provide a level of buffering to the SSSI.H The process of site selection will be transparent.The rationale of the decisions made will be recordedand made available to any interested parties. This will benecessary for arbitration should the CWS designation becontested. Conversely, there may be a need to show whya site has been de-selected or was not selected in thefirst place. Procedures for how this will be achieved arereferred to in section 3.3.I The process of site selection will be accountableand legitimate. The site selection procedure must becarried out by suitably qualified experts with knowledgeof ecological principles and processes and an overviewof the ecology of the County. The whole process must beratified by a Local Sites Partnership; this role is adoptedby the Cornwall BAP Partnership. The BAP Partnership’srole in overseeing and approving the criteria and thesite assessment and selection procedures, and providingtechnical input as necessary, is vital in respect of theaccountability of the process.3.3 Procedures for County Wildlife Site SelectionA Local Sites Partnership Group has been drawn fromthe larger BAP Partnership, and comprises CountyPlanners, Countryside Managers, Minerals Planners,geologists in industry, representatives from NaturalEngland, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, theCornwall Agricultural Council, and Cornwall WildlifeTrust. This Partnership has overseen the strategicdevelopment of the County Wildlife Site and CountyGeology Site Systems and approved the criteria andsite assessment and selection procedures. Members ofthe Partnership continue to provide technical input asnecessary.The evaluation of existing or potential new sites willbe carried out using the criteria for habitats and speciesdetailed in Section 4 and Appendices 4,5 and 6 of thisreport, whilst following the Guiding Principles in Section3.2. Designation of new sites will be a 5 stage process:1. A ‘working list’ of potential new sites will be createdby members of the Local Sites Partnership. This listwill be managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.2. Preliminary information on these sites will becollected by members of the Local Sites Partnership(including a rough outline boundary and briefreasons for interest based on this criteria document),and brought to partnership meetings to discussprioritisation and collate information.3. For potential new sites thought suitable for furtherinvestigation, ecologists will collate detailedinformation and complete the form ‘Protocol foramending County Wildlife Site boundaries’ (in draftform in Appendix 7; currently under consultation).4. The Local Sites Partnership will meet to evaluate sitesby referring to the completed protocol form and thesecriteria. Sites will be approved, rejected or put onhold pending more information.5. If the site is approved, site documentation will becompleted with a Site Summary Sheet and a SiteBoundary Map being produced for each site.The process for changes to site boundaries and/ordeletion of sites will follow the steps below (data is likelyto have been collected by ecologists undertaking surveysin the field, so there is no need for steps 1 & 2 above):1. Ecologists will collate detailed information on thesite and reasons for suggested boundary changes andcomplete the form ‘Protocol for amending CountyWildlife Site boundaries’ (currently in draft form;Appendix 7).2. The Local Sites Partnership will meet to evaluate theproposed amendment/deletion by referring to thecompleted protocol form and these criteria. Sites willbe approved, rejected or put on hold pending moreinformation.3. If the amendment/deletion is approved, sitedocumentation will be completed with a SiteSummary Sheet and a Site Boundary Map beingproduced for each site.The summary sheet will be distributed to the site ownerand other selected parties and will ultimately be madeavailable on a password-protected web-based system. Anexample of the summary sheet is given in Appendix 3.The web-based CWS dataset will be re-issued annually.There will also be a rolling programme of site reviewand update, as funding allows.County Wildife Site Criteria for CornwallPage 8