Slapton Ley
The largest natural freshwater lake in South West England – under grave threat.
The largest natural freshwater lake in South West England faces destruction within a decade – unless we act.
Slapton Ley is under grave threat. It faces imminent destruction from the coastal erosion that threatens to breach the A379 within the next ten years. When that happens, seawater will flood this irreplaceable ecosystem forever – destroying more than 11,000 years of natural heritage and one of Britain’s most scientifically important wildlife sanctuaries.
This crisis stems from a historical debt. At the turn of the twentieth century, the government licensed the dredging of millions of tons of shingle and sand from the Hallsands end of Slapton Line and the Skerries Bank to expand Plymouth Naval Dockyard – permanently weakening the natural gravel bank that had defended this coast for millennia. The unchecked longshore drift that followed has left beach levels critically low since Storm Emma in 2018, with 55% of the shoreline now holding a seaward buffer smaller than the erosion caused by that single storm.
What We Risk Losing
Slapton Ley is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve – over 490 acres of woodland, marsh and reedbed, sheltering species found almost nowhere else on Earth.
The UK’s only strapwort
Slapton is the last home in Britain of strapwort (Corrigiola litoralis), a plant Natural England has identified as at high risk of extinction.
Rare birds and otters
Critical habitat for the endangered Cirl bunting, confined to South Devon, alongside resident otters.
3,000 species of fungi
Including 21 new to science – making the reserve one of the most intensively studied places on the planet for fungi.
A British first
The millipede Anthogona britannica, known only from a handful of South Devon sites, was first discovered here at Slapton Ley.
Once lost, this biodiversity can never be restored or replaced. Reversing the historic dredging offshore is the sustainable way to protect the Line, the road and the Ley for good.