Natural England

10 June 2008

The first Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to be notified by Natural England has been announced today, Tuesday 10 June.

Ely Pits and Meadows SSSI in Cambridgeshire is notified for bitterns, a nationally rare bird listed as a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The designation of this site will now be considered by the Natural England Board² although the site receives full protection as an SSSI from today.

The site is home to at least 13 different species of breeding bird typical of lowland open waters and their margins, including bittern, marsh harrier, kingfisher and bearded tit. It is also regularly used by nationally important numbers of bittern in winter.

Fossil reptiles have also been found in geological deposits known as the ‘Kimmeridge Clay’ which have yielded a number of exciting finds, including turtles, crocodiles, plesiosaurs - aquatic reptiles with long necks, small heads and large paddles - dolphin-like ichthyosaurs and sauropod dinosaurs.

Ely Pits and Meadows SSSI is nationally important for bitterns in both the breeding and wintering seasons. Many of the other important sites for bitterns are on the low-lying coasts of East Anglia where they are threatened by rising sea levels. Ely Pits and Meadows SSSI is therefore of particular and increasing importance as an established inland site, offering England’s bitterns some resilience to the predicted effects of climate change.

Background information on England’s SSSIs:

• SSSIs cover 1 million hectares of land in England and support an enormous range of habitats and species, many of which are endangered and listed under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).
• England’s best sites for wildlife are improving at a record-breaking rate under Natural England’s conservation management.
• At the end of March, 82.7% of land designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in England were judged to be in a ‘favourable or recovering condition’ – good news for endangered species such as the Lady Slipper Orchid, the Greater Horseshoe Bat and the High Brown Fritillery butterfly.
• Natural England is responsible for the protection and management of these special designated areas. The Government's Public Service Agreement target is for 95% of SSSI land to be in 'favourable' or 'recovering' condition by 2010.
• The best SSSIs open to the public can be found on Spotlight National Nature Reserves - click here for more information
• There are only seven other SSSIs in England designated for breeding bitterns and this is the first such site in Cambridgeshire.