Archived press release

Over one sixth of top nature reserves at risk

23 November 1995

The most thorough survey ever on threats faced by the country's best wildlife areas is published today by Friends of the Earth (FOE). It reveals how more than one sixth (838) of the 4824 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England and Wales are at risk from or suffering some form of damage [1]. The SSSIs have been designated by the Government to ensure that the country's wide variety of animals and plants is protected [2].

MPs successful in today's Private Member's Ballot will be urged to promote in Parliament a Wildlife Bill prepared by FOE to ensure that SSSIs are better conserved [3]. FOE says that at least half of the threats identified in the survey could be addressed if the Bill became law.

The new survey reveals that SSSIs all over the country are in immediate danger. Others are already being damaged. For instance, the ancient hay meadows at Oxley Mead SSSI near Milton Keynes are threatened with building development whilst the best place in the country for woods with wild box trees is being destroyed by a local resident in Surrey. Rare species like marsh helleborine have recently disappeared from Botcheston Bog in Leicestershire because the area has not been properly looked after and the rare orchids at Brock's Farm in Devon will be wiped out if proposed mining and waste disposal works go ahead. Rare meadows near Salisbury and Hereford lie in the path of proposed trunk roads.

Tony Juniper, Habitats Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

"The nation's best wildlife areas are not safe. Bit by bit, our most precious wild places are being nibbled away by development and degraded by pollution. The individual impact of some threats will be minor but in the end the overall effect will be massive. A wood lost here, a meadow ploughed there, a pond infilled and a swamp drained - each act in its way leading to the demise of wild nature in our land. Stronger laws are urgently needed to protect what is left".

Even brand new SSSIs near Peterborough and Bolton, one with the largest colony of Great-crested Newts in the world and the other with remnant ancient bogland, are respectively at risk from urban expansion and conversion into a rubbish dump. Hyde Heath SSSI in Dorset is being dug up by the Amey Roadstone Corporation to supply sand.

News photographs will be available from November 22 on application to Judith Overell at Friends of the Earth on 020 7

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The results of a six month-long survey conducted by Friends of the Earth identifies threats to 838 SSSIs in England and Wales. A wide range of official and voluntary organisations contributed information to the survey, these included Friends of the Earth's network of 220 local groups, hundreds of local authorities, the Wildlife Trusts, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Trust, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Council for the Protection of Rural England, the Ramblers Association and many others. Friends of the Earth warmly appreciates the assistance of these bodies. A full report of the survey results is available from Friends of the Earth's London Head Office. Please call Pete Hardstaff on 020 7566 1668 for more survey details.

[2] SSSIs are identified by the Government's wildlife advisory agencies, the Countryside Council for Wales, English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and, in Northern Ireland, the Countryside and Wildlife Branch of the Department of the Environment. Landowners and occupiers are told which activities could damage the site (such as drainage or pesticide use). However, these potentially damaging activities are not necessarily prevented by the law. Four months after owners or occupiers of SSSIs have notified the relevant wildlife agency of their intention to carry out a damaging operation on the SSSI, they can usually go ahead with the activity quite legally. Whilst the wildlife agencies are able to convince many owners and occupiers through persuasion and negotiation not to damage their SSSIs, hundreds of sites are officially reported as damaged each year.

[3] Friends of the Earth is urging MPs to support a Wildlife Bill that will close some of the loopholes in the existing laws so that damage caused quite legally to many SSSIs may be prevented. The annual Private Member's Ballot will be drawn in the House of Commons today. The 20 successful MPs, whose names are selected at random, will have the opportunity to introduce Bills into the House during the present session of Parliament. Friends of the Earth will contact these MPs to urge them to act on behalf of the country's beleaguered wildlife.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust