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Rare Habitat Limestone Pavement is Threatened by Home Improvement Enthusiasts

22nd February, 2006

Over £1,000,000 per year is going into the pockets of stone merchants and garden centres from the sale of stone that is destroying limestone pavements - a rare and endangered habitat.

A new report has shown that limestone pavement quarried in the UK and Ireland is still widely available for sale despite legal measures put in place in the 1980s. The stone is also sold under names that may disguise its protected status. These names include weathered limestone, Westmorland stone, Cumberland stone, Irish limestone and water-worn limestone.

The survey, commissioned by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the Limestone Pavement Action Group and in partnership with Cumbria Wildlife Trust, English Nature and RMC Environment Fund, showed that 10% of garden centres and 22% of stone merchants, sell limestone pavement quarried from the UK and Ireland. Garden centres alone sell over 6,000 tonnes of the stone per year.

Kate Willshaw of the Limestone Pavement Action Group, based with Cumbria Wildlife Trust said, “Left in its original environment limestone pavement it is a stunning sight. For over ten thousand years water has worn limestone, creating clints, grikes and runnels, all of which form shelter for rare plants such as bloody crane’s-bill and dark red helleborine. The beautiful patterns on the surface of limestone pavement make it very desirable resulting in consumers using it in gardens and landscaping. The Limestone Pavement Action Group wants to reduce the popularity of this stone by raising awareness about the environmental damage caused by the stone’s removal from its natural habitat”.

The retail survey also provides some insight into what is driving this demand. When asked about why they thought demand for water-worn limestone is rising, retailers’ responses included that gardening, DIY and home-improvement programmes on TV were the main reason. Other reasons included that architects, town planners, builders and landscapers wanted something new and different.

The survey shows that there is poor awareness of the environmental issues surrounding the extraction and sale of limestone pavement for both garden centres and stone merchants (both those that sold the material and those that did not). A positive outcome is that 6% of stone merchants and 22% of garden centres that do not sell limestone pavement, take the decision not to sell it because of environmental issues. More information about limestone pavements can be found at www.limestone-pavements.org.uk.

Click here to download a copy of the Shattered Stone report

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Story by Cumbria Wildlife Trust

More Information

Contacts Kate Willshaw, Limestone Pavement Project Officer, Cumbria Wildlife Trust 01539 816300
Charlotte Rowley, Press Office, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, 01539 816313; 07921 953220 charlotter@cumbiawildlifetrust.org.uk

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