The limestone cliffs of the North Wales Coast have become extremely popular sports climbing venues in the last few years. But many of these cliffs are designated conservation sites, partially due to the prescence of the nationally scarce Wild Cabbage, which can easily be inadvertently damaged by climbing .

The Wild Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) is a nationally scarce plant found on maritime cliffs, usually limestone or chalk and competes well in grassland mixed herb communities.  It is typically found on or near to cliff tops or cliff bases, often on ledges containing other mixed herb communities. It is a relatively short-lived (20 years) evergreen perennial which pollinates by a range of pollinators including bees and hover-flies. This plant is regarded by conservationists and botanists as being nationally scarce as it is found in less than 100 10km squares in the UK.

It was first noted in Britain in 1548 on the White cliffs of Dover, and there is some evidence that it is not a fully "native" British plant, but may have been introduced by the Romans. It is very closely related but distinct from cultivated brassicas such as edible cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

In Wales the most common locations where climbers come across this plant is on the sea-cliffs of the North Wales limestone  area, especially the Great and Little Orme and on Gower, where the plant appears to be locally abundant.

While the plant itself does not have any specific legal protection under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), most of the locations where it's found along the North Wales Coast are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interests. Damaging, uprooting or removing the plant either deliberately or recklessly could be regarded as a criminal act and there is some evidence that at some specific sites, climbing is damaging to the plant's survival.

The problem is particularly acute on the recently developed sports venue of the Llanddulas Escarpment. Long term photo-monitoring by conservation organisations along the base of Llanddulas cave clearly shows trampling and other damage by recreational users (including climbers, partying youths and other sightseers to the cave). The photos accompanying this article clearly demonstrate the demise of the plant here.

What should climbers do?
The obvious thing is to avoid treading on the plant and definitely do not uproot or "garden" the plant from the rock-face. There is ample evidence on some of the newly developed routes that several plants have been removed or damaged by climbing - and the advice is that no new routes or route cleaning should occur on the Llanddulas escarpment without formal consultation with the conservation bodies.

Further damage to the plant at these locations could well lead to formal restrictions and even a possible outright ban on climbing at these venues, so it is in all our interest to do what we can to avoid any further damage to the Wild Cabbage at these sites.

On a more positive note - the BMC are also working with the Countryside Council For Wales to identify ways in which climbers can help with the conservation of the natural flora on  these cliffs.

One of these is a project to remove invasive Cotoneaster, which is rapidly spreading across some of these protected sites, shading out and suffocating the scarcer native plants. It's hoped to set up "cleaning" days where climbers will be trained to identify these plants and under the supervision of experienced botanists be able to remove these invasive plants, exposing climbing faces and benefiting conservation at the same time.

More information on this project and how climbers can get involved will be produced later in the year.
 

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