Sandlings Forest

Also within

Suffolk County Suffolk Coast & Heaths Scenic Area

Condition (Natural England)

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Description This site is notified for its coniferous woodland which supports internationally important populations of woodlark Lullula arborea and nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus. The Sandlings Forest SSSI lies between Snape and Woodbridge and is comprised of the areas known as Tunstall Forest and Rendlesham Forest. The site is dominated by commercial forestry plantations on sandy soils which once supported extensive heathland. The plantations were first established between the 1920s and the 1940s. The initial plantations were largely of Scot’s pine Pinus sylvestris but on second rotation have been replaced by Corsican pine Pinus pinaster ssp laricio. Ten to twelve percent of trees are broadleaves. Small areas have been taken out of timber production and reversion to open, heathy habitat is being undertaken. Unplanted areas of heathland lie adjacent to the forest within separate SSSIs. The main conservation interest of the forest lies in the open areas such as young plantations and rotational clearfell which provide suitable habitat for breeding woodlark and nightjar. The storm of 1987 affected a very large area, particularly in Rendlesham Forest and this led to an increase in the extent of open habitat. Subsequent tree growth is reducing its suitability but stable populations of woodlark and nightjar can be sustained through a combination of clearfell forestry management and heathland reversion. The 1992 national survey of nightjars recorded 81 singing males within the Sandling Forest SSSI, representing approximately two percent of the British population. In 1997 a national survey of woodlarks recorded 71 woodlark territories in the Sandling Forest SSSI, representing approximately five percent of the British population. Other Information Woodlark is specially protected by being listed on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended. Nightjar and woodlark are both included on Annex 1 of the European Directive 79/409/ EEC Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Nightjar and woodlark are priority species of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Species mentioned