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Special Areas of Conservation

Exmoor and Quantock Oakwoods

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country England
Unitary Authority Devon, Dorset and Somerset
Centroid* SS894440
Latitude 51.18388889
Longitude -3.5825
SAC EU Code UK0030148
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 1894.05
* 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 Exmoor and Quantock Oakwoods SAC

General site character

  • Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (0.5%)
  • Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (0.5%)
  • Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (6%)
  • Dry grassland, Steppes (3%)
  • Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (0.5%)
  • Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (87%)
  • Coniferous woodland (1%)
  • Mixed woodland (1%)
  • 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

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

    This site supports extensive tracts of old sessile oak woods in conjunction with heath. They are rich in bryophytes, ferns (including Dryopteris aemula) and epiphytic lichens, the latter often associated with old pollards, since parts are former wood-pasture rather than the oak coppice that is more common with this type. In the Barle Valley the woods also occur in mosaic with glades and small fields and the combination results in good populations of fritillary butterflies.

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

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

  • 1308 Barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus

    A maternity colony of barbastelles Barbastella barbastellus utilises a range of tree roosts in this area of predominantly oak Quercus spp. woodland.

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.