IPAs in detail
Welcome to the IPAs in detail page. Plantlife have taken 15 of the key Important Plant Areas and provided a summary sheet. This lists details of botanical interest and key fetures for each of the selected IPAs. Plantlife has also provided a boundary map showing geographical coverage of individual IPAs.
We plan to continue building this level of detail for all IPAs in the future, for further details on other IPAs please visit our IPA database.
To open the files you will need to have the latest Adobe PDF Reader loaded onto your machine. Click here to go to the adobe website.
Because the PDF files are in some cases quite large, they may take some time to download from the internet.
GIS maps have been created using Ordnance Survey 1:50000 map tiles (c) Crown Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence No. 100032779
Eryri/Snowdon IPA, North Wales
This IPA includes all upland areas of Snowdonia north and west of Betws-y-Coed. This diverse matrix of habitats includes alpine and subalpine heath, grassland, rocks and scree, some of which are base-rich. It also includes metalliferous mine deposits, upland oligotrophic lakes and streams. Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Snowdon IPA
Boundary map for Snowdon IPA (3.2Mb)
For full IPA list click here
This IPA consists of part of the Dinefwr Estate, an early medieval establishment. Within its still functioning deer park and ornamental woods survive a great number of veteran trees, some believed to be 13 th century in origin. Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Dinefwr Estate IPA
Boundary map for Dinefwr Estate IPA (591kb)
For full IPA list click here
The Gower Peninsula IPA, South Wales
The Gower Peninsula is justifiably famous for its diverse landscape and wealth of wildlife. Around its coast, there are spectacular beaches, dunes and limestone cliffs and caves.
Inland, acidic heaths and commons predominate, with ash woodlands in steep limestone valleys and arable farms contributing to the richness of the area.
Over 700 vascular plant species have been recorded in this area. Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Gower Peninsula IPA
Boundary map for Gower Peninsula IPA (1.6mb)
For full IPA list click here
Torbay Limestones IPA, SW England
The Torbay Limestones comprise a range of adjacent Devonian Limestone headlands at the northern and southern extremities of Torbay, and immediately adjacent to the Victorian seaside resorts of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham.
The flat topped headlands support a mosaic of grassland, limestone heath, rock, cliff and scrub communities, noted for their exceptional floristic richness.
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Torbay Limestones IPA
Boundary map for Torbay Limestones IPA (2.4Mb)
For full IPA list click here
The Lizard IPA is recognised as being of outstanding importance for plants. It is home to over 70 threatened and/or rare flowering plants, and important communities of stoneworts, mosses, liverworts and bryophytes.
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of The Lizard IPA
Boundary map for The Lizard IPA (3.9Mb)
For full IPA list click here
The Ouse Washes is a very large flood control structure designed to contain flood waters coming down the Great Ouse River. The washlands are very extensive and lie between two rivers at different levels, with the washlands themselves divided into hundreds of fields by a complex ditch system fed from the main river.
(C) RSPB
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Ouse Washes IPA
Boundary map for Ouse Washes IPA (3.1Mb)
For full IPA list click here
Isles of Scilly IPA, SW England
The Isles of Scilly are an archipelago of approximately 200 granite islands around 25 miles (40 kilometres) south-west of Land’s End. Five islands, Bryher, St Agnes, St Martin’s, St Mary’s and Tresco, are inhabited and support small scale farming, fishing and horticulture.
(c) Natural England
The Lichen IPA encompasses the coastal cliffs, rock outcrops, slopes and the unclosed heathland around the five inhabited islands, plus Annet, Gugh, Round Island, Samson, St Helen’s Tean andWhite Island (St Martin’s).
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Isles of Scilly IPA
For full IPA list click here
North Downs: Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment IPA
Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment stretches for 8 miles between Leatherhead and Reigate, and includes a range of outstanding wildlife habitats representative of the best of those found on the North Downs. This area qualifies as an IPA for its wide diversity of chalk grassland plants and mosaic of threatened habitats
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of North Downs Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment IPA
For full IPA list click here
North Downs: West Medway Gap IPA
This Important Plant Area includes Ranscombe Farm, one of Plantlife's nature reserves, which lies on the slopes of the North Downs in Kent. Recently declared as a country park, the Ranscombe Farm landscape includes arable habitats, extensive ancient woodland and relict fragments of chalk grassland.
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of North Downs: West Medway Gap IPA
For full IPA list click here
West Coast Scotland IPA, West Scotland
Stretching from Kinlochbervie in the north to Tarbert in the south and Glen Coe in the east, the West coast IPA has a rough area of 80,000 hectares. Most sites within this area have been nominated for old sessile oak woodland and montane oceanic heath, both habitats that are internationally rare.
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of West Coat Scotland IPA
Boundary map for West Coast Scotland IPA (1.8Mb)
For full IPA list click here
Breadalbane Mountains (including Ben Lawers) IPA, Scotland
Ben Lawers, in the Breadalbane mountain range of the Scottish Highlands, is renowned for its outstanding flora. The alpine calcareous grasslands, treeline woods and rocky slopes support a diverse range of flowering plants, lichens and bryophytes. Ben Lawers is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is a National Nature Reserve.
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Breadalbane Mountains IPA
For full IPA list click here
The Cairngorms massif, dominated by vast boulder strewn plateaux and ringed by precipitous cliffs above wild corries, supports the most diverse and extensive mountain vegetation communities in the UK. Part of the massif is designated the Cairngorms National Park. The Important Plant Area reaches beyond the park boundaries to include the entire mountain massif.
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of the Cairngorm IPA
For full IPA list click here
Skomer Island is situated off the Dale peninsula, off the Pembrokeshire coast, south Wales. The area has long been recognized for its natural history and is already designated as a Marine Nature Reserve (MNR) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Please click on document below to access full text summary.
Summary description of Skomer Island IPA
For full IPA list click here
Strangford Lough IPA, Northern Ireland
Strangford Lough is a large (150km²) shallow sea lough situated on the east coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. About a third of the lough is intertidal. The southern half of Strangford Lough has high algal diversity and maerl beds.
Please click on document below to access full text summary
Summary description of Strangford Lough IPA
For full IPA list click here
Garron Plateau, Northern Ireland
The Garron Plateau is a `table' of basalt stretching from central Ballymena to the coast at Garron Point, where dramatic cliffs with a distinctive stepped profile plunge into the sea. Rock outcrops and acidic grassland cover its slopes, whilst the more elevated summits are draped in blanket bog, with occasional fen peat in wet flushes and small oligotrophic lakes.
Please click on document below to access full text summary
Summary description of the Garron Plateau IPA
For full IPA list click here
