Last refuge for rarest plants
24 February 2011
Five protected sites in the UK have been identified as crucially important in the future survival of some of our rarest plants, all reduced to a single colony in the wild and dependent on the continuing protection of their last habitat.
A list of the country's most sensitive wildlife sites drawn up by Natural England included seven plants which exist in only one location in the UK. In the case of the aquatic Derbyshire feather-moss (Thamnobryum angustifolium) the entire world's population lives in a single square metre of Cressbrook Dale in Derbyshire.
Upper Teesdale in Co. Durham, described as a 'botanical time capsule' and one of the most important botanical sites in Britain, has been the only home of the hoary rock-rose (Helianthemum oelandicum subsp. laevigatum) and Teesdale sandwort (Minuartia stricta) for the last 12,000 years. Only about 300 Bristol whitebeams (Sorbus bristoliensis) are left in a single gorge near Bristol, also the last home for Wilmott's whitebeam (S. wilmottiana); and the Lindisfarne helleborine (Epipactis sancta) lives only on Holy Island off the coast of Northumberland. One ragwort, Senecio paludosus, re-appeared in a single drain in the fens of Cambridgeshire after being declared extinct: the location of the drain is kept a closely-guarded secret.
All five locations are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), affording them special legal protection. However, a report for Natural England said though there had been a steady improvement in the conditions of SSSIs around the country, there remained 'significant challenges' to maintaining such sites in good condition, and it identified almost 20% of SSSIs as at risk of moving into a 'declining condition'.
'SSSIs are often all that stand between some of our most threatened species and extinction,' said Natural England's chief executive Helen Phillips. 'By providing essential habitat that may not be found elsewhere, they represent a life support system whose importance cannot be overstated.'