The exceptionally high quality of
the environment at Sunart and the wildlife it supports
has long been recognised with national, and more recently
international, designations for the area.
Note: the Sunart SAC is only one of eight SACS within
our Sunart Oakwoods area: click here
to see the complete list and the website link to the
Joint Designations site.
Sunart Special Area of Conservation
In recent years, the European Union has enacted two
key wildlife designations which aim to protect rare
or vulnerable natural habitats and species within its
borders, through a network of protected sites collectively
know as Natura 2000. The EC Wild Birds Directive
has been in existence since 1979 and aims, through the
designation of Special Protection Areas, to safeguard
important sites for resident and migratory birds. The
Birds Directive was complemented 1992 by the Conservation
of Natural Habitats and of Wild Flora Directive (commonly
known as the Habitats Directive), which puts in place
similar systems for habitats and species through designation
of Special Areas of Conservation.
Sunart hosts several habitats and species which are
rare or threatened within the European Union, which
has resulted in the designation of the Sunart Special
Area of Conservation. These important habitats and species
are:
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Old sessile oak woods with Ilex
and Blechnum in the British Isles
Commonly known as Western Acidic Oak Woodland |
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Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes
and ravines
Commonly known as Mixed Woodland on Alkaline Soils
Associated with Rocky Slopes |
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Northern Atlantic wet heath with Erica tetralix
Commonly known as Wet Heathland with Cross-leaved
heath |
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European Dry Heath |
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Marine Reefs |
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Otter |
Sunart Site of Special Scientific Interest
In Britain, sites which support rare or threatened habitats
or species, or natural heritage features of particular
scientific interest are designated as Sites of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) under the Wildlife and Countryside
Act 1981. Sunart SSSI is a very large site which covers
over 5,500 hectares and encompasses habitats and species
from the low tide mark to more than 500 metres above
sea level. The features of special interest in the SSSI
are:-
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Native
Broadleaved Woodlands
Includes oak dominated, riparian and mixed broadleaved
woodlands |
| • |
Upland Habitats
Includes wet heath, dry heath, upland grassland
and blanket bog |
| • |
Intertidal Habitats
Includes the full range of intertidal habitats
from sheltered areas dominated by sea-weed to
exposed stretches of coast. Of particular note
is the lush growth of the free floating knotted
wrack seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii
which is found in very sheltered bays. |
| • |
Coastal Habitats
Includes saltmarshes. Sunart is also unusual in
having an uninterrupted transition from the marine
environment through saltmarsh, coastal heath to
woodland in some locations. |
| • |
Vascular Plants
The habitats around Sunart support eight nationally
scarce (NS) and two species listed in the Red
Data Book (RDB) due to their current vulnerability.
These are Irish lady's tresses (RDB), Lapland
marsh orchid (RDB), quillwort (NS), northern rock
cress (NS), small cow-wheat (NS), bog orchid (NS),
rock whitebeam (NS), narrow-leaved helleborine
(NS), eel-grass (NS) and dwarf eel-grass (NS). |
| • |
Non-vascular
Plants
Includes over 300 species of mosses and liverworts
and over 200 species of lichen. |
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Mammals
Includes otter, wildcat, pipistrelle bat, pine
marten and common seal. |
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Invertebrates
Includes rare or scarce craneflies, hoverflies,
dragonflies, butterflies and moths. |
| • |
Geology
Moine - coarse sandy deposits laid down in a shallow
sea around 1000 million years ago.
Caledonian Igneous - granite formed when the landmasses
which would form England and Scotland collided.
Tertiary Igneous - the remains of a 60 million
year old volcano |
In the UK, all terrestrial areas of Special Area of
Conservation are also Sites of Special Scientific Interest,
hence in Sunart the woodlands have both SAC and SSSI
designation.
Other SACs in the Sunart Oakwoods area.
There a total of eight SACs in the area. Details
can be found here. They are:
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Ardgour Pinewoods SAC |
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Ardnamurchan Burns SAC |
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Claish Moss & Kentra Moss SAC |
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Loch Moidart and Loch Shiel Woods SAC |
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Morvern Woods SAC |
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River Moidart SAC |
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Sound of Arisaig SAC (includes Loch Ailort) |
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Sunart SAC |
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