Western Weald - Biodiversity

Biodiversity

The range of habitats, broken topography and small field sizes in the Western Weald support a wide range of species.The large fragments of ancient woodland, heathlands and wet meadows are of special conservation value. Buzzards have been breeding in the area for a number of years, but red kites have not yet colonised the area. At least 4,400 species have been recorded, including many priority species for conservation, including 95 listed under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Ebernoe Common is a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest,. Managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust, it includes ancient woodland, glades and ponds, and supports a diversity of plants and animals, including 14 out of 16 species of bat which occur in the UK, including the rare Bechstein's and Barbastelle bats. Adjoining farmland has been purchased with a grant from Restore UK which will be allowed to revert to pasture woodland over a long period with managed grazing by cattle. The Barbastelle bats need old dying trees with loose bark for their roosts and travel great distances along traditional flight lines to feed over damp meadows, which may be as much as 20 kilometres from the roost, in the Arun and Rother valleys. Local landowners are being encouraged to maintain and enhance continuous tree cover along these routes so that the bats can travel out on summer evenings, avoiding predation by sparrow hawks.