Nature and conservation

The whole of the Godrevy Warren site lies within the ‘Godrevy Head to St Agnes’ Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), designated by Natural England – details here. In addition, the site is also part of the ‘Godrevy Head to St Agnes’ Special Area of Conservation (SAC), designated by Joint Nature Conservation Committee, details here. These designations demonstrate that the Godrevy is of nationally significant ecological and geological value.

The Hayle to Godrevy sand dune system (including Godrevy Warren) is one of the most important wildlife areas in Cornwall, not only for rare species, but for its overall biodiversity. Cornwall-wide, sand dunes occupy only 2% of the land area, yet hold 20% of all plant species. Godrevy Warren contains at least 17 plants ‘rare’ or ‘scarce’ within Cornwall, and contains about 10% of all Cornwall’s plant species.  

A survey conducted in 2018 survey found: 25% scrub, 74% grassland, 1% bare sand. The ideal balance for sand dune SSSIs is 5-10% scrub, 5-20% bare sand, the balance being grassland. Therefore this site is in ‘unfavourable condition’, and in need of conservation work.

The Warren has been known for some time as an important site for the nationally-scarce silver-studded blue butterfly Plebejus argus. This butterfly has declined enormously within the UK during the past century because much of its habitat has been destroyed and it is now virtually absent from 80% of its former range. In Cornwall, sand dune systems are important for this species, where it is thought that the caterpillar feeds mainly on bird’s-foot-trefoil and possibly young gorse plants.

The 2018 survey of Godrevy Warren found over 100 colonies of silver-studded blue butterflies, in excess of 5,400 individuals, making it one of the top sites in UK to host this special butterfly.