Honister Crag SSSI

Honister Crag
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Honister´s via ferrata with Honister Pass in the background
Interest Biological and geological
Notification 1988
Location map Magic Map

Honister Crag SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cumbria, England. It is designated for both biological and geological interest. The site covers an area of 302.9 ha on Honister Crag and the adjacent fell Fleetwith Pike. It is separated from another SSSI, Buttermere Fells, by the B5289 road.

Biology

The site is important for its plants and provides one of the best examples of species-rich upland ledge communities in West Cumbria. It supports a mixture of montane and lowland species.[1]

Management

In 2011 Natural England successfully prosecuted a local businessman who was redeveloping Honister Slate Mine as a tourist attraction. The SSSI had been damaged by an unapproved extension to an existing via ferrata and a zip wire. It was noted that use of these facilities by paying members of the public caused significant damage to the vegetation through trampling.[2]

As well as a need to manage human access, English Nature (the predecessor organisation of Natural England) identified a need to control grazing stock.[3]

Geology

There are important exposures of rocks of the Skiddaw Group in contact with lavas and tuffs of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group.[1]

Management

According to English Nature, the "ideal management for natural inland geological sites is the maintenance of rock exposure free of vegetation and, in some cases, the build-up of rock debris".[3]

Other levels of protection

The SSSI is within the Lake District National Park, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 2017 as a cultural landscape.

Since 2005 the SSSI has been protected under European Union legislation as part of the multi-site Special Area of Conservation Lake District High Fells. This designation is for the site´s biological rather than geological interest. The SAC also includes Buttermere Fells SSSI.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Honister Crag" (PDF). naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Honister slate mine owner faces £28,000 legal bill". Cumberland and Westmorland Herald. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Views about management: Honister Crag" (PDF). Retrieved 28 May 2018.
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