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Special Areas of Conservation

Berwyn a Mynyddoedd de Clwyd/ Berwyn and South Clwyd Mountains

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country Wales
Unitary Authority East Wales, West Wales and The Valleys
Centroid* SH917280
Latitude 52.8386
Longitude -3.6072
SAC EU Code UK0012926
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 27208.51
* This is the approximate central point of the SAC. In the case of large, linear or composite sites, this may not represent the location where a feature occurs within the SAC.
Location of Berwyn a Mynyddoedd de Clwyd/ Berwyn and South Clwyd Mountains SAC

General site character

  • Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (0.5%)
  • Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (31%)
  • Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (52.5%)
  • Dry grassland, Steppes (11.5%)
  • Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (0.5%)
  • Improved grassland (0.5%)
  • Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (0.5%)
  • Coniferous woodland (0.5%)
  • Inland rocks, Screes, Sands, Permanent Snow and ice (2%)
  • Other land (including Towns, Villages, Roads, Waste places, Mines, Industrial sites) (0.5%)

Download the Standard Data Form for this site (PDF <100kb)

Note When undertaking an appropriate assessment of impacts at a site, all features of European importance (both primary and non-primary) need to be considered.

Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Berwyn contains the largest stands of upland European dry heath in Wales. The dry heath is characteristic of Berwyn’s more easterly location and less oceanic climate than the other major Welsh uplands, and consists principally of NVC type H12 Calluna vulgarisVaccinium myrtillus heath, with frequent crowberry Empetrum nigrum and occasional cowberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea. Other heath vegetation present includes areas of H18 Vaccinium myrtillusDeschampsia flexuosa heath and in some areas stands of damp H21 Calluna vulgarisVaccinium myrtillusSphagnum capillifolium heath. These latter heaths occur in an intermediate position between the drier heaths and blanket mire and support occasional plants of lesser twayblade Listera cordata.

  • 7130 Blanket bogs (* if active bog)  * Priority feature

    Berwyn supports the most extensive tract of near-natural blanket bog in Wales. Much of the blanket bog vegetation is dominated by NVC type M19 Calluna vulgarisEriophorum vaginatum blanket mire, with crowberry Empetrum nigrum and an often extensive hypnoid moss cover; within this community cloudberry Rubus chamaemorus is found close to the southernmost limit of its British range. On deeper peats, there are smaller stands of M18 Erica tetralixSphagnum papillosum mire, some of which exhibit distinctive surface patterning. The mire vegetation shows transitions to heather-dominated dwarf-shrub heath.

Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

Annex II species present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for site selection

  • Not Applicable

Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of a site in these pages does not imply any right of public access.