Guidelines for the Selection of Biological Heritage Sites
6. Section 1: Habitat Guidelines
6.10 ARTIFICIAL HABITATS
Ar1 Sites in the following categories which are considered to contribute significantly to the biodiversity of the Landscape Character Tract,(1) in which they occur:
a)Arable land
b)Orchards
c)Hedges
d)Walls
e)Coastal embankment
f)Churchyards
g)Parks and golf courses
h)Canals and ditches
i)Reservoirs and mill lodges
j)Gravel pits
k)Quarries and mines
l)Spoil tips and landfill
m)Derelict and unmanaged land
n)Sewage works
Application
To qualify under this guideline, a site must have biological features which are peculiarly a function of the sites artificial origin and which can be demonstrated to be part of the Countys "critical environmental capital". Such sites may contain features or areas within them which satisfy other habitat guidelines. However, the application of this guideline to sites which already satisfy one or more other habitat guidelines simply because the site is in one of the artificial categories listed above should be avoided. No sites have, at present, been identified in some of the categories shown.
Justification
The collective importance for wildlife of small-scale landscape features is now formally recognised, both in the EC Habitats Directive and in government policy as set out in Department of the Environment 1994b.
However, a relatively small number of such features may also be of significant importance in their own right. Ponds are the subject of a separate guideline (Po1).
This guideline also recognises the fact that some sites which are the direct legacy of industrial activity, and frequently do not satisfy other habitat guidelines, can make an important contribution to biodiversity.
Ar2 Roadside verges and railway track-sides (including disused railways) which conform to other guidelines except in terms of minimum size may be considered where they are at least 100 metres in length.
Application
Some sites may also meet one or more species guidelines. Sites which fail to meet guideline Gr3 on grounds other than size, and which meet no other guideline, should be considered only if they can be regarded as part of the Countys "critical environmental capital". The majority of sites which have been selected were originally identified as `special verges in the joint Lancashire Wildlife Trust/LCC Roadside Verge Survey, or were identified from the East Lancashire Line Survey conducted by LWT.
Justification
Old established roadside and railway verges may support types of grassland and grassland species which have largely disappeared from the wider landscapes through which they run - often as a result of agricultural changes in the last 50 years. More recent verges can also develop highly diverse plant communities, including many scarce species, which may be conserved if they are appropriately managed.
(1) See Appendix 1.