Coverack to Porthoustock 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 both 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...

 and geological

Geology of Cornwall

The Geology of Cornwall is dominated by its granite backbone, part of the Cornubian batholith, formed during the Variscan orogeny. Around this is an extensive metamorphic aureole formed in the mainly Devonian slates that make up most of the rest of the county...

 interest. The site contains 4 Red Data Book

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 plant species.

Geography

The 173.5 hectares (428.7 acre) site, notified in 1951, is situated on the south Cornish coast, within St Keverne

St Keverne

St Keverne is a civil parish and village on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom.The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 started in St Keverne. The leader of the rebellion Michael An Gof was a blacksmith from St Keverne and is commemorated by a statue in the village...

 civil parish on the Lizard Peninsula. It starts at the village of Coverack

Coverack

Coverack is a coastal village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated on the east side of the Lizard peninsula approximately nine miles south of Falmouth....

 in the south, following the shores of the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 to the hamlet of Porthoustock

Porthoustock

Porthoustock is a hamlet near St Keverne in Cornwall, United Kingdom, on the east coast of Lizard Peninsula. Aggregates are quarried nearby and Porthoustock beach is dominated by a large concrete stone mill. The mill was once used to crush stone but is now disused. Container ships of up to 82m can...

 in the north.

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, part of the coastline around Lowland Point 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...

 and contains 2 Geological Conservation Review

Geological Conservation Review

The Geological Conservation Review is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological and geomorphological features of Britain...

 sites.

Wildlife and ecology

The coastline contains 4 Red Data Book

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 plant species, which includes Cornish heath

Cornish heath

The Cornish heath is a species of heath that bears pink flowers and mid-green foliage. This is a shrub, reaching 0.75 m by 0.75 m. Its English name comes from the fact that, in Great Britain, it is only found on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, where the unusual geology gives rise to the alkaline...

 (Erica vagans), dwarf rush (Juncus capitatus

Juncus capitatus

Juncus capitatus is a species of rush known by the common name leafybract dwarf rush. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa. It is also an introduced species in parts of North America such as California and the Gulf Coast. It grows in moist areas, such as wet sand, vernal pools, and ditches....

) and twin-headed clover (Trifolium bocconei) along with the nationally scarce autumn squill (Scilla autumnalis).