Stoke Floods - Oct-2001

Nature Conservation Sites Annex

This page attempts to define the various categories.  Many areas fall under more than one category.

All the information is derived from the latest available table supplied by Coventry City Council, or from the "Green Space Strategy for Coventry" book published in Sep-1994 - a good source for more background information.
 

TABLE DEFINING NATURE CONSERVATION SITE CATEGORIES

Item	Name	Description
SSSIs	Sites of Special Scientific Interest	These are sites that have been deemed nationally important and subsequently notified by English Nature under the terms of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. Coventry has two biological SSSIs (Tile Hill Wood and Herald Way Marsh) and a geological SSSI (Webster's Clay Pit) within its administrative boundary.  All are owned by the City Council. The City Council also own a biological SSSI outside its administrative boundary at Coombe Abbey Country Park.
CNCS	Coventry Nature Conservation Sites	These are non-statutory wildlife and geological sites of high local significance protected by the Coventry Development Plan (CDP), but do not attract the legal protection which covers SSSIs.  They largely correspond with Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) which are second-tier wildlife sites of local or regional significance endorsed by English Nature.
LNRs	Local Nature Reserves	A Statutory designation carried out under Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949.  The designation is generally used where there is a particularly strong commitment to promoting access, informal recreation and education alongside nature conservation. Coventry's LNRs also correspond with Coventry Nature Conservation Sites. Coventry currently has 12 Local Nature Reserves, all declared since 1987.  The first three were declared as part of a comprehensive plan to improve the environment and management of the Sowe Valley.  They are: Stonebridge Meadows; Stoke Floods; and Wyken Slough.  Wyken Slough and Stoke Floods include Coventry's two largest areas of open water. Other LNRs are: Tile Hill Wood, Hearsall Common Woodland, Claybrookes Marsh, Kenilworth Road Spinney and Wainbody Woods, Limbrick Wood, Plants Hill Wood, Stivichall Common and Canley Ford, Ten Shilling Wood, and Willenhall Wood and Meadow. See also English Nature web-site for more information.
SINCs	Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation	English Nature recommended 25 SINCs to the City Council for formal protection.  These are sites of lower nature conservation value than Sites of Special Scientific Interest, but nevertheless a vital part of the City's wildlife resource.
AWs	Ancient Woodland	Whilst some Ancient Woodlands in the City are considered as worthy of SINC status, there are a number of others which do not have such protection.