The Lizard, Cornwall

The Lizard is a special area well known for its botanical interest. It has a rich collection of rare plant species (a total of 18 nationally rare plant species grows here), together with a diverse range of heathland and coastal habitats. The inland heaths support one of the most diverse collections of heathers in the British Isles and are dominated by the rare and beautiful Cornish heath Erica vagans, which is unique to the area.

Management of the coastal grasslands/heaths has in the past decade involved the re-introduction of grazing using a variety of animals (sheep, ponies and cattle). Grazing is carried out between late summer and early spring with the aim of reducing scrub and the coarser grasses which prevent some of our rarer plants from growing. Management of the inland heaths consists mainly of controlled winter burning and cattle or pony grazing. This creates a structural diversity to both the heaths and grasslands which encourages the widest possible variety of plants and animals to thrive.

The restoration of the heathland was part of a project undertaken by the RSPB and funded via a Life Nature project entitled "Conservation and re-establishment of Southern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica ciliaris and Erica tetralix and Dry coastal heaths with Erica vagans and Ulex maritimus in SW England and NW France." see http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/home.htm.