Lundy: a Site of Special Scientific Interest

1976 & 1987

• Lundy was originally designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1976 under provisions set out in the Access to the Countryside Act, 1949. It was re-designated in 1987 (as a Grade 3 site) under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, as amended. The main features worthy of protection included wavy maritime heathland (at the north end of the island); the island’s seabird colonies and its passage migrants; the island’s maritime flora; and the presence of three endemic species: the Lundy cabbage Coincya wrightii, the Bronze Lundy cabbage flea beetle Psylliodes luridipennis and the Lundy cabbage weevil Ceutorhynchus contractus pallipes – this little island is the only place in the world where these species are found in their natural habitat.
• The area covered by the SSSI is 346.47 ha or 77% of the island. Excluded from the SSSI is the central southern area of the island, made up of the farm, its grazing pastures as far north as Quarter Wall and the village. Of relevance to the MPA is that all of the sidelands, the cliffs and the shores (to Low Water Mark Mean Spring Tides) are included within the SSSI.
• The intertidal area around the island is recognised for its communities typical of rocky shores in south-west Britain, with wave exposure ranging from ‘very sheltered’ to ‘very exposed’. In addition, the large tidal range at Lundy leads to the presence of extensive areas of communities showing clear zonation patterns. Rich and/or unusual communities are present under boulders, under overhangs, in gullies, in rockpools and in some caves. The large number of intertidal caves on Lundy provide a particularly unusual feature to the littoral ecology of the island (Hiscock, 1983).

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