Deeside and Buckley Newt Sites

General site character

• Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (1.9%)
  
• Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (0.2%)
  
• Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (5.3%)
  
• Dry grassland, Steppes (3.5%)
  
• Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (1.2%)
  
• Improved grassland (40.5%)
  
• Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (30.4%)
  
• Coniferous woodland (2.9%)
  
• Mixed woodland (4%)
  
• Other land (including Towns, Villages, Roads, Waste places, Mines, Industrial sites) (10.1%)
  

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

• Not Applicable

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

• 91A0 Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles

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

• 1166 Great crested newt Triturus cristatus

  This composite site in north-east Flintshire is on coastal slopes overlooking the Dee estuary. Waterbodies created by the extraction of clay, sand and coal, as well as for agricultural purposes, provide breeding habitat for one of the largest populations of great crested newt Triturus cristatus in Great Britain. Some ponds on the site have been created for nature conservation purposes following post-industrial reclamation. Terrestrial habitat is rich and varies from neutral and acid grasslands, through Molinia mires to scrub and mature broad-leaved woodland. The site also supports considerable numbers of all the widespread amphibian species.

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

• Not Applicable