Local Wildlife Habitats
Over a third of the land in County Durham is made up of semi-natural habitats. These are areas where there has been some management of the land but native plants and animals still occur. These habitats usually look a lot more ‘natural’ than agricultural land and there are seven major types of semi-natural habitat found in County Durham.
The most common habitat is mire, which is dominated by moss, flowering herbs or small shrubs such as heather, and the ground is permanently or periodically waterlogged. The most common type of mire in the County is blanket bog, which is found on plateaux and gently convex summits all over the wet west, covering the hills from Stainmore to Wearhead, and Burnhope Seat to Middleton.
Where the land is drier moor and heath communities occur. Little lowland heath remains in the County but on the drier hills, extensive areas of heather moorland light up the Durham uplands with a blaze of purple through the late summer months. Much of this moorland is managed for grouse or grazed by sheep and provides valuable habitat for ground nesting birds.
Grassland is also widespread throughout County Durham although much of this is heavily treated agricultural land and is consequently of little value for wildlife. The most important type of grassland from a nature conservation point of view is that found over Magnesian Limestone. This occurs on shallow nutrient poor soils on the Magnesian Limestone plateau, which runs through the east of the County. This grassland supports a wide range of wild flowers and is rare in Britain, with over 50% being found in Durham.
Some of the oldest habitats in County Durham are woodlands, with remnants of the wildwood formed at the end of the ice age, surviving on steep valley sides and coastal denes, where the land was unsuitable for farming or development. Because woodland is such an established habitat a wide range of plants and animals have adapted to live here, resulting in some of the richest and most diverse habitats in the County.
The County also contains many valuable wetland communities in the form of still and, in particular, running water. Total numbers of these habitats have declined dramatically over the last century as changes in industry and agricultural practice resulted in the draining of many ponds and the culverting of many river sections. Wetland habitats support a variety of animal life including waterfowl, amphibians and bats, and it is important to conserve those which remain.
The Durham coastline with its towering cliffs in the north and rolling dunes in the south is of such high nature conservation importance that it is legally protected along virtually its entire length. The craggy cliff faces provide roosting and nesting sites for many species of bird and, on the cliff tops, narrow bands of unimproved Magnesian Limestone grassland contain plants such as bloody cranesbill and rockrose.
This website contains information on all of these habitat types. To learn more about specific habitats of nature conservation value found in County Durham please choose a site from the map, or visit one of the appropriate habitat pages listed below.
- Woodland
1. Castle Eden
2. Baal Hill - Heath
3. Waldridge Fell
4. Quaking Houses Fell
5. Pity Me Carrs
6. Moorhouse Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve
7. Harelaw Heath - Grassland
8. Bishop Middleham Quarry
9. Little Wood Local Nature Reserve
10. Hannahs Meadow
11. Hawthorn Dene and Meadow and Beacon Hill
12. Cassop Vale National Nature Reserve
13. Thrislington National Nature Reserve - Mire
14. Pow Hill
15. Ferry Hill Carrs - Open Water
16. Escomb Lake
17. Hardwick Country Park
18. Low Barns Nature Reserve and the River Wear
19. Balderhead Reservoir
20. Burnhope Pond
21. Tuthill Pond - Running Water
22. River Tees and Juniper Woodland at High Force
23. Durham Riverbanks
24. River Browney at Malton Nature Reserve
25. Woodham Burn
26. River Wear at Riverside Park - Coastal
27. Coastal Footpath
28. Blackhall Rocks Nature Reserve and Picnic site
