A.A. Milne's 100 Acre Wood, home to Winnie the Pooh and friends, was based on Ashdown Forest where the author lived. It was once a royal hunting ground and is the largest single tract of open country in southeast England. It is one of the few remaining areas of lowland heath left in Europe and supports unique flora and fauna. Ashdown Forest is a rare open space in the southeast. A report by the conservation group Friends of the Earth warned that Overstrand Cliffs are in danger of disappearing because of coastal erosion from rising sea levels caused by global warming.
SACs represent the most important sites for wildlife in the country.
It is a European designation that covers animals, plants and habitats and provides them with increased protection and management. The government will consult with the public and national organizations before sending its final list of sites to the European Commission. English Nature, the government's conservation and wildlife agency, will consult with landowners, occupiers and local authorities site by site. Devon's Dawlish Warren is a great place for birdwatching. England now has over 900,000 hectares of protection for internationally threatened plants and animals, like the western rustwort and lesser horseshoe bat, and fragile habitats like sand dunes, stretching from Northumberland to Cornwall.