Archived press release

Plan threatens one of europe's rarest plants

20 March 1997

One of Europe's rarest plants, already on the brink of extinction, is under threat from a taxpayer-funded scheme to protect the grounds of an exclusive hotel from sea erosion. The Nare Hotel near Truro, the only four star hotel in Cornwall, plays host to "lords, ladies,judges, politicans, actors," and those with "high profile lives". However, current plans to protect the hotel's extensive grounds from sea erosion threaten the habitat of the endangered Shore dock.

There are only 70 individual plants of the Shore dock (Rumex rupestris) left on the UK mainland and the population at Carne beach in Cornwall is the third largest in the country -just nine individuals. The colony is threatened with being wiped out if plans for 'rock armour'sea defences to protect the grounds of the hotel go ahead. The defence work will be funded by the tax-payer through the Ministry of Agriculture and Carrick District Council.

The Shore dock is one of the most protected species in the UK. The site at Carne beach is part of the Gerrans Bay to Camels Cove Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Fal and Helford candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The species itself is listed under the European Habitats Directive and Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act - any person who damaged a Shore Dock would be liable to prosecution. The species is also the subject of a Government Biodiversity Action Plan which is intended to help its populations recover.

Rock armour is used to shore up eroding cliffs. The Shore dock, however, requires eroding conditions to colonise and survive and so is particularly vulnerable to sea defences being built.

Matt Phillips, Wildlife Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

"This is an acid test of the Government's rhetoric about protecting endangered species. It would be hard to give the Shore dock more legal protection under current legislation, yet this damaging development is set to go ahead at the taxpayers' expense. The Government must step in to ensure that the Shore dock is protected for future generations."

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