Carricknath Point to Porthbean Beach is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 (SSSI) in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, noted for its biological

Flora and fauna of Cornwall

Cornwall is the county that forms the tip of the southwestern peninsula of England; this area has a mild and warm climate regulated by the Gulf Stream...

 interest.

Geography

There are 3 separate sites to this SSSI, which cover a 49.5 hectares (122.3 acre) area on the south Cornish coast, within the civil parish of Gerrans

Gerrans

Gerrans is a coastal civil parish and village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village adjoins Portscatho on the east side of the peninsula...

, 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the town of St Mawes

St Mawes

St Mawes is a small town opposite Falmouth, on the Roseland Peninsula on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the east bank of the Carrick Roads, a large waterway created after the Ice Age from an ancient valley which flooded as the melt waters caused the sea level to...

. The first is from Carricknath Point to St Anthony Head

St Anthony Head

St Anthony Head is a National Trust property situated at the southernmost tip of the Roseland Peninsula, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, overlooking the entrance to one of the world's largest natural harbours: Carrick Roads and the estuary of River Fal...

, at the southern tip of the civil parish, the second is from Porthbeor Beach to Portscatho

Portscatho

Portscatho is a coastal village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village adjoins Gerrans on the east side of the peninsula approximately seven miles south-southeast of Truro....

 and the third is at Porthbean Beach, to the northern end of the parish.

The South West Coast Path

South West Coast Path

The South West Coast Path is Britain's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Since it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more...

 runs through the SSSI and part of the coastline around St Anthony Head is owned by the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

. The shoreline below this section is part of the Lower Fal & Helford Intertidal SSSI, the cliffs being designated as within this SSSI.

Wildlife and ecology

The habitat of the first, southern most, section consists of cliffs overhanging damp rock ledges in which the internationally rare and threatened Shore Dock (Rumex rupestris) can be found, amongst other flora.

The second stretch of coastline contains a variety of different costal habitats, including sand covered beaches, natural rock platforms with fragments of saltmarsh

Saltmarsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

, cliff top grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

 and low rocky headland

Headland

A headland is a point of land, usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends out into a body of water.Headland can also refer to:*Headlands and bays*headLand, an Australian television series...

s. Here the nationally scare species of Babington's Leek (Allium ampeloprasum

Allium ampeloprasum

Allium ampeloprasum is a member of the onion genus Allium. The wild plant is commonly known as Wild Leek - not to be confused with the N. American Allium tricoccum of the same name. Its native range is S. Europe to W...

) and Hairy Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus subbiflorus

Lotus subbiflorus

Lotus subbiflorus, Hairy Bird's-foot Trefoil, is a flowering plant of the pea family Fabaceae.It is a finely hairy annual plant, growing in dry, sandy ground, often near the sea, and producing sprawling stems with clusters of two to four lemon-yellow pea-type flowers, often with some borne...

) grows, and a variety of invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s can be found.

The third, northern most section, at Porthbean Beach the nationally declining species of Sea Kale (Crambe maritima) occurs.