Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | East Sussex |
---|---|
Grid reference | TQ 647 076[1] |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 3,603.2 hectares (8,904 acres)[1] |
Notification | 1990[1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Pevensey Levels is a 3,603.2-hectare (8,904-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Bexhill-on-Sea and Hailsham in East Sussex.[1][2] It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I,[3] a Ramsar site[4] and a Special Area of Conservation.[5] An area of 183.5 hectares (453 acres) is a national nature reserve[6] and an area of 150 hectares (370 acres) is a nature reserve called Pevensey Marshes which is managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust.[7]
This is a large area of wetland grazing meadows intersected by a network of ditches. It has many nationally rare invertebrates. It may be the best site in Britain for freshwater mollusc fauna, including the endangered shining ram's-horn snail. It also has one nationally rare and several nationally scarce aquatic plants and it is of national importance for lapwing, with more than 1% of the British population.[8]