Baldersdale Woodlands
Baldersdale Woodlands is a Site of Special Scientific Interest[1] in the Teesdale district of south-west County Durham, England. It consists primarily of ancient, semi-natural woodland growing on steep valley slopes, including scree, on both banks of the River Balder over a stretch of some 3 km, upstream (i.e. west) of the village of Cotherstone. The site has a rich faunal assemblage and the woodland and associated stretch of the river is home to a variety of birds, including dipper and goosander.
In part, the site derives its importance from the proximity of similarly protected sites in other valleys in the River Tees catchment area; the Shipley and Great Woods SSSI occupies a similar position in the valley of the Tees immediately north of Cotherstone.[2]
The condition of the site was last assessed by Natural England in September 2009, when it was mostly rated as "favourable"; a small area, just over 10 percent of the total area, is suffering from cattle grazing but was rated as "recovering".[3]
References
- ^ Drought plan for North East region Dales area (PDF), Environment Agency, United Kingdom, archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-14, retrieved 2010-08-16
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Baldersdale Woodlands" (PDF). English Nature. 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Condition of SSSI units". Natural England. 1 Jul 2010. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
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