The State of the West Weald’s Natural Environment (2006) - A Synthesis
The West Weald constitutes a distinct landscape area in terms of its physical environment,
nature and use by people. It is a predominantly rural landscape of attractive countryside,
interspersed with scattered villages and a few market towns, that has been intimately shaped
by people over many centuries. Indeed, a significant proportion of the landscape remains
relatively unchanged since the early-medieval period. The western end of the Low Weald
character area is an undulating landscape of wooded farmland principally, an area rich in
ancient semi-natural woodland, commons (including grazed wood pasture), ‘assart’ fields and
a dense hedgerow network. Largely as a result of this lengthy continuity in traditional land
management, the West Weald is today a rare example of a semi-functioning lowland forest
landscape, being one of the best-wooded parts of the UK. It is internationally important for
wildlife and nature conservation and is home to a number of priority species including
woodland bats, butterflies and birds.
Our landscape area is largely situated upon the clay of the Low Weald, with overlying soils of
low-moderate natural fertility, framed by densely wooded Lower Greensand ridges and more
intensively farmed agricultural areas to the south and east by the river valleys of the Rother
and (upper) Arun respectively. The climate of the West Weald is relatively benign, with a
mean monthly temperature of 9.8 oC and rainfall of 67 mm distributed fairly evenly
throughout the year. There is evidence of the climate changing through the 1990s however,
in common with south-east England and other areas, with increases in both winter and
summer temperatures as well as in winter rainfall; drier summer conditions were not
apparent in the West Weald during this decade, despite more recent drought conditions
challenging water resources in the south-east. Water constitutes the lifeblood of the
landscape, for both nature and people (in terms of downstream abstractions for water
supply), although the watercourses are sensitive to surrounding land use in their catchments
in respect of both water flow and quality. Indeed, a previous shift to more intensive arable
agriculture has been linked to more “flashy” flow regimes and in-stream nitrate pollution in
the West Weald, whilst recent general declines in chemical water quality and variable
patterns of biological water quality also give grounds for potential concern. Air quality is
generally good in the West Weald Landscape, with up to a half less emissions of significant
pollutants than the average for the wider surrounding area of Chichester and Waverley
districts; the highest concentrations of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide
are associated with the few urban areas and major roads.
Designated sites for nature conservation in the West Weald comprise six biological Sites of
Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s), including two woodlands that are European Special Areas
of Conservation (SAC’s), as well as two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB’s), one
of which (the South Downs) is a proposed new National Park. Only two of the SSSI’s are
rated as optimal (“favourable condition”) presently, however, leaving much scope for
improvement of their conservation status. Despite the high cover of woodland, covering
about a third of the landscape (two-thirds being ancient in nature), the forest patches are set
within a surrounding matrix of mostly intensive arable agriculture and as such are relatively
fragmented and isolated, in need of expansion and better connection. The cover of seminatural habitats other than woodland - such as species-rich grassland, wet meadows and
heathland - is very low furthermore and in need of substantial re-creation efforts in line with
UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) targets. Furthermore, our landscape demands a focus
beyond the level of individual designated sites and habitat patches, since a number of
important species such as the Barbastelle bat range widely across the area and are highly
sensitive to the processes at work (both human and natural) that shape the structure and
make-up of the countryside. In addition, most of the BAP-listed priority species present are
threatened by inappropriate types and amounts of management, or the lack of it.
The West Weald Landscape is classed as of average suitability for farming, and includes areas
of large modern farms and fields although most farm holdings are of small size (< 20 ha) and
are worked by part-time (rather than full-time) farmers that own their land. Production is
divided between arable crops (mostly wheat) and grazing livestock (cattle and sheep). Less
than a quarter of the Sussex part of the landscape is currently covered by agri-environment
schemes however, significantly lagging behind both the regional and national averages, and
only a very small proportion of land is registered as organic production.
The West Weald is a fairly sparsely populated area, with around 20,000 residents found at an
average population density of just 91 people per km2. The landscape constitutes an island of
tranquillity within the built-up south-east, and lowland England generally, with a relative
absence of significant light and noise pollution (which has endured through the 1990s
apparently). The population are fairly typical of rural areas of the south-east, being slightly
older than average, quite reliant on private car ownership and travelling further than most to
work (over 20 kilometres). About two-thirds of people are employed and own their own
home, with built development rates being quite low (averaging just 70 residential
completions per year over the past 20 years). The West Weald is a relatively less-known and
visited natural landscape, with a limited number of ‘visitor attractions’, accommodation and
recreational facilities. Visitors tend to be older and more traditional in nature, from
professional backgrounds, and come predominantly by car as day trippers attracted by the
scenery, tranquillity and walking in the fresh air. This is in broad concert with the pattern of
countryside recreation in south-east England, in which two-thirds of the public visit the
countryside at least once in a year and about half go to a woodland. Access to the West
Weald countryside is quite good, with more accessible natural greenspace than the southeast average, supported by a reasonably extensive rights of way network, several longdistance walking trails and areas of Access Land (registered common land); most farmers
and landowners are apparently opposed to increased provision of public access, however.
Our wide-ranging and comprehensive research into the nature of the West Weald Landscape
area confirms it as a high-value landscape, containing significant existing natural assets of
regional, national and international importance, principally: its ancient well-wooded
landscape, containing various rare species, clean air, water supply function, low levels of light
pollution and a high degree of tranquillity. There is substantial potential, however, to improve
its natural elements to capitalise on their potential for environmental enhancement,
contributing to socio-economic values such as quality of life and local prosperity. This could
be achieved by measures such as pursuing increased and better-connected cover of habitats,
less intensive countryside management practices, and support for greater appropriate use by
visitors. The goal of balancing higher environmental quality with the viability of productive
land uses is a challenging one, given the economic pressures of intensifying agriculture in the
globalised marketplace and the predicted impacts of climate change on both natural and
agricultural ecosystems, as well as on water resources. The West Weald Landscape Project
aims to foster such landscape-scale enhancement for nature and people through a robust
integrated partnership approach.