Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons is a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

west of

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Thursley and Hankley Commons are '' Nature Conservation Review'' sites, Grade I. An area of is a local nature reserve called The Flashes and an area of is the Elstead Group of Commons, a nature reserve managed by the

Surrey Wildlife Trust Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) was founded in 1959 as Surrey Naturalists' Trust and it is one of forty-six wildlife trusts covering Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Alderney. SWT carries out conservation activities on a considerable ...

Thursley Common Thursley Common is a national nature reserve in Surrey, England, and has also been designated as a Ramsar wetland. It is also part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest called Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons. Geography Thursley ...

is a national nature reserve. An area of is the Thursley & Ockley Bogs

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Special Protection Area and part of the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright & Chobham Special Area of Conservation. This site is of national importance for its invertebrates, birds and reptiles. It is mainly heathland but the valley mire on Thursley Common is one of the best in the country.

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...

include the nationally rare

large marsh grasshopper The large marsh grasshopper (''Stethophyma grossum'') is a species of grasshopper belonging to the family Acrididae. Distribution and habitat ''S. grossum'' is found throughout Europe, with a few records from western Asia. In the British Isles i ...

. The site is one of the richest in southern England for birds and of outstanding importance for reptiles, such as the nationally rare sand lizard.

References

{{SSSIs Surrey Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Surrey National nature reserves in England Nature Conservation Review sites Ramsar sites in England Special Areas of Conservation in England Special Protection Areas in England

See also

References