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Special Areas of Conservation

Pembrokeshire Bat Sites and Bosherston Lakes/ Safleoedd Ystlum Sir Benfro a Llynnoedd Bosherston

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country Wales
Unitary Authority West Wales and The Valleys
Centroid* SR966954
Latitude 51.62111111
Longitude -4.938333333
SAC EU Code UK0014793
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 121.26
* 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 Pembrokeshire Bat Sites and Bosherston Lakes/ Safleoedd Ystlum Sir Benfro a Llynnoedd Bosherston SAC

General site character

  • Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (33%)
  • Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (5%)
  • Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (13%)
  • Dry grassland, Steppes (3%)
  • Improved grassland (1.8%)
  • Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (29%)
  • Mixed woodland (15%)
  • Other land (including Towns, Villages, Roads, Waste places, Mines, Industrial sites) (0.2%)

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

  • 3140 Hard oligo-mesotrophic waters with benthic vegetation of Chara spp.

    Bosherston Lakes are an outstanding shallow marl lake system created at intervals in the late 18th and mid 19th centuries by damming a limestone river valley. They are fed in part by a series of calcium-rich springs and are isolated from the sea by a small sand dune ridge. Charophytes are represented by bristly stonewort Chara hispida which forms dense beds up to 1 m high, with individual plants up to 3.5 m long, and by variable quantities of C. globularis, C. virgata and C. vulgaris. Extensive white water lily Nymphaea alba beds also occur, mainly in the western and central arms. In contrast, the eastern arm is characterised by variably dense stands of curled pondweed Potamogeton crispus, fennel pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus, spiked water-milfoil Myriophyllum spicatum and Canadian waterweed Elodea canadensis. Emergent vegetation fringes parts of the system, mostly common reed Phragmites australis, bulrush Typha latifolia, common spike-rush Eleocharis palustris and branched bur-reed Sparganium erectum.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

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

  • 1304 Greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

    This site in south-west Wales supports approximately 9.5% of the UK greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum population. It represents the species at the north-western extremity of its range. The site contains a mixture of maternity, transitory and hibernation sites and so demonstrates good conservation of features required for survival.

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

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