Introduction

The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland are home to the world’s most important areas of limestone pavement, a rare and endangered habitat and landscape feature. Within the UK there are only 3,000 hectares of pavement and much of this has already been extensively damaged. The limestone pavement sites are largely restricted to north-west England, with small pockets also found in Wales and central and north-west Scotland, as well as County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. There are extensive pavement areas in the Republic of Ireland, but only in the west and most notable is the Burren.

Status of limestone pavement in the United Kingdom

Status of Limestone Pavement in the Republic of Ireland

Limestone pavements of special interest within England, Scotland and Wales can be protected under a Limestone Pavement Order (LPO), which designates an area and prohibits the removal or disturbance of the limestone. 

These Orders are made under Section 34 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. A total of 99 sites are protected under LPOs in Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire, but the power has not yet been used in Scotland and Wales. 

Seven sites in England and Scotland have also been declared as Special Areas of Conservation, under the European Union’s Habitats and Species Directive 1992. 

In Northern Ireland, 70 hectares of limestone pavement are included within two National Nature Reserves. In the UK, it is only legal to remove water-worn limestone from sites that have planning permission to do so.

The Republic of Ireland is fortunate in having a large proportion of the total limestone pavement resource of Europe, the most famous area being the Burren; perhaps the finest example in Western Europe of this endangered habitat. 

Selected limestone pavement sites are protected by two separate pieces of legislation. 

A total of 63 sites are listed under the proposed Natural Heritage Areas (NHA). Of these, 42 occur in the counties of Clare, Galway and Mayo. The existing Wildlife Act (1976) is currently being amended and on 1 July 1999 the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill was published. This amendment bill includes the procedure for designating and protecting NHAs. 

In addition to protection given under the NHA system, the best NHA sites are selected as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), and protected under the EU Habitats Directive. Under this Directive, now signed into Irish law, a total of 42 limestone pavement sites have been selected, 30 of which are found in the counties of Clare, Galway and Mayo. This includes three separate SACs, totaling 28,503ha, which have been declared in the Burren.  

All extraction or damage to limestone pavement within SACs is illegal.  However, extraction from other sites not protected under SACs can proceed so long as planning permission has been granted.  Planning permission is not required for operations below 2.5 hectares in size outside of SACs.

Limestone Pavements - a unique habitat

Limestone pavements are of interest for their geological features, the flowers and ferns they support and for the beautiful landscapes they form. 

The geological features are a record of the ice ages set in stone – the history of the last ten thousand years. 

The distinctive range of plants found in limestone pavements reflects the varied habitats provided by the fissures and clefts. Plants shelter in the warm and humid confines of  the  grikes. Ferns such as hart’s-tongue, limestone fern and 

rigid buckler fern are characteristic together with the beautiful dark-red helleborine, mountain avens and bloody crane’s-bill. Ash trees, hazel, juniper and yew more commonly form a woodland canopy in the lowland pavements but a scrubby cover is more typical in the upland and Irish pavements. The wheatear and wren are birds which frequent the pavements together with fritillary butterflies and in Ireland the Burren green moth and the pearl-bordered fritillary.