Exmoor National Character Area (NCA) is predominantly a landscape of upland plateaux of Devonian sandstones and slates terminating in the north at the Bristol Channel with a spectacular cliff coastline. It lies across the counties of Devon and Somerset. The Devonian geological time period was first described and recorded in association with this area. To the west the area terminates at Barnstaple/Bideford Bay and the Taw and Torridge Estuary and to the east at the Vale of Taunton Deane. The Exmoor area contains sparse settlement with centres at Braunton, Ilfracombe, Lynton and the western edges of Minehead, all associated with the coast, and inland at Barnstaple, Dunster, Dulverton and Bampton.
http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/2303045?category=587130
The entirety of Exmoor National Park lies within the area and accounts for over half of the NCA. A further 5.6 per cent is part of the North Devon AONB. Upland heath, blanket bog (Exmoor Heaths SAC) and upland sessile oak woodland (Exmoor and Quantock Oak Woods SAC) areas are recognised as internationally important, as is the largest area of sand dunes in England (Braunton Burrows SAC). Braunton Burrows also lies at the heart of the UNESCO North Devon Biosphere Reserve encompassing much of the western end of the area. 16 per cent (20,352 ha) of the NCA is designated as SSSI, for example Exmoor Coastal Heaths, Taw/ Torridge Estuary. The ‘wildness’ and remoteness of the upland landscape inspired the likes of R D Blackmore (Lorna Doone) and Coleridge (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan) and continues to inspire visitors and residents alike. Signs of 8,000 years of human occupation can be found in the landscape of the Exmoor area. In combination with a wealth of wildlife and many surviving traditions, this is one of the country’s most important cultural landscapes.
Statements of Environmental Opportunity
- SEO 1: Protect, manage and enhance the landscape of large areas of open, ‘wild’ moorland and Atlantic coast, and deep wooded combes, supporting internationally important habitats and species, helping to regulate water quality and quantity, storing carbon dioxide and protecting soil structure and water resources across the area.
- SEO 2: Protect and enhance the nationally important, highly distinctive and diverse landscape, the wealth of geodiversity, extreme tranquillity and dark skies, the rich cultural heritage and traditions, and inspirational qualities of the area that contribute to the attraction of the area for leisure, recreational and sporting activities.
- SEO 3: Plan for the effects of coastal change, allowing the operation of natural coastal processes and the creation of new habitats to maintain and enhance local coastal landscape character and biodiversity, and improve sustainability of current management practices, while reducing flooding of built areas and valuable productive land.
- SEO 4: Reinforce the distinctive character of the pastoral and mixed farmed landscape through a continuation of upland and other farming traditions supporting a wealth of biodiversity and cultural heritage.
Ecosystem services
The Exmoor NCA provides a wide range of benefits to society. Each derives from the attributes and processes (both natural and cultural features) within the area. These benefits are known collectively as ‘ecosystem services’. The predominant services are summarised below (under the constituent headings).
Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply)
Food provision: A producer of store lambs and suckler calves with some beef and dairying. The area supported in excess of half a million sheep in 2009.
Timber provision: The main source of commercial timber from Exmoor is currently the conifer plantations on the upper moorland fringes, and some steeper slopes and valley sides. In total these plantations cover some 4 per cent of the area of this NCA. Some high-quality, specialist oak products are derived from the area.
Water availability: Much of the area forms part of the upper Exe catchment with the peatland plant communities of the open moorland storing water and feeding the headwaters of a radial pattern of rivers. The Exe and its principal tributary the Barle flow south. On the western side of the NCA the rivers Yeo, Mile and Bray drain into the River Taw. The River Tone rises at Beverton Pond near the south-eastern edge of the area. This area provides a key source of water for the region, with the Wimbleball reservoir supplying Exeter and parts of East Devon by releasing water into the River Exe. The Clatworthy reservoir, releasing water into the River Tone being a major source of water for Taunton. Most of the area is classed as having water available for abstraction, although the eastern part of the NCA is classed as either over licensed or having no further water available for abstraction. The growth of Barnstaple in the west and Exeter to the south may place further pressure on the water resources of Exmoor.
Regulating services (water purification, air quality maintenance and climate regulation)
Climate regulation: Across most of the NCA, greenhouse gas regulation through carbon stored in the soils is relatively low (less than 10 per cent). The deeper peat soils, found across the extensive areas of blanket bog habitat, house significantly high volumes of atmospheric carbon, particularly along The Chains.
Regulating water flow: Steeply sloping topography occurs across most of the area resulting in fast flowing rivers and streams often descending into constricted river valleys. This can present significant flood risk and particularly where settlements have been established in the lower reaches of river valleys. High rainfall or rapid snow melt on the moorlands, particularly when running over saturated or frozen ground, can result in hazardous flash floods that threaten settlements and infrastructure downstream. The flooding of Lynmouth in 1952, which resulted in a significant loss of life and damage to property, is a severe example. A pilot study in the Aller catchment is one of three national initiatives considering whole-catchment flood management. Mires may limit the rate of water flow from the upland areas.
Regulating coastal flooding and erosion: The coast at Minehead is susceptible to coastal flooding. Analysis of the coastal processes and landforms at Porlock Bay and Braunton contribute to the understanding of the benefits that a naturally functioning coast can provide to maintain and enhance local landscapes, biodiversity, sustainability of current management practices and reduction of flooding to built areas and valuable, production land.
Cultural services (inspiration, education and wellbeing)
Sense of place/inspiration: A landscape and coastline that has offered great inspiration through the centuries and to the present day. The open moorland and exquisite diversity of landscapes, wildness and remoteness have stimulated romantic poets, Coleridge and Wordsworth, authors, R D Blackmore, painters and photographers.
Sense of history: A landscape rich in archaeology, and particularly bronze-age remains (with standing stones, stone settings and rows, and barrows), with historic settlements, such as Dunster, and deep-rooted agricultural and coastal traditions and cultures.
Tranquillity: An intensely tranquil place of dark skies (Europe’s first International Dark Sky Reserve), uncluttered views and free, in most part, from major infrastructure.
Recreation: With a National Park, AONB and 109 km of the South West Coast Path, the area is of great importance for tourism and recreation. There are also three National Nature Reserves providing and promoting access to important habitats and species found in the area. The variety of opportunity accommodates contemplative recreation and outward bound activities, such as upland walking, mountain biking and pony trekking. The coastal towns, such as Minehead and Ilfracombe, offer a more traditional seaside holiday with many visiting the area for its fine sandy beaches. Canoeing, surfing, shooting and bird-watching are all common and popular activities supported by the area.
Biodiversity: A wealth of habitats, from moorland and blanket bog to sessile oak woodlands and parkland, as at Arlington Court, and coastal cliffs, shingle ridges and extensive sand dunes, support an array of nationally and internationally important species. These include high brown, heath and, to a lesser extent, marsh fritillary butterflies, all species of British bat, rare lichen communities and an array of common and rare birds adapted to moorland, woodland, farmland and coastal conditions. The Atlantic, oceanic climate and lack of pollution further contribute to this diversity allowing for the development of sensitive lichens, mosses and bryophytes.
Geodiversity: The ability to observe, record and interpret geological formations and geomorphological processes particularly along the coast, is an important contribution to education. The underlying geology of the area determines and influences many of the habitats and human activities found across the area.
http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/4504662466101248
