Moon Carrot (Seseli libanotis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Seseli libanotis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (L.) W.D.J.Koch |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Assessed as NT in England (Stroh et al. 2014). It occurs at five localities; Knocking Hoe (Bedfordshire); Cherry Hinton Pits and Gog Magog Golf Course (Cambridgeshire), Seaford Head and Bullock Down (both East Sussex). It is stable at Knocking Hoe, with a population numbering a few thousand plants. Cambridgeshire populations are also stable, although at both locations the populations are small, with fewer than 50 plants at the Golf Course, and c.80-100 plants at Cherry Hinton. The largest population in Sussex is at Bullock Down, where there are perhaps 2,000 plants present. There are c.900 plants at Seaford Head. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The implementation of a suitable conservation grazing regime is necessary at all locations to ensure the species survival. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This is a nationally rare species, with poor dispersal capacity, and is unlikely to colonise new locations (although remarkably, it has colonised an adjacent area of chalk grassland next to Knocking Hoe, which was put into natural regeneration c.20 years ago). |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Retain a conservation grazing regime at all locations, adjusting for seasonal variations in weather and with a spring graze c. 1 year out of 4 to control the spread of competitive grasses.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Knocking Hoe (Bedfordshire); Cherry Hinton Pits and Gog Magog Golf Course (Cambridgeshire), Seaford Head and Bullock Down (East Sussex).
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Implement the monitoring of the populations at key sites to allow reactive mitigation as needed
Action targets: 8. Species recovering
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Knocking Hoe (Bedfordshire); Cherry Hinton Pits and Gog Magog Golf Course (Cambridgeshire), Seaford Head and Bullock Down (East Sussex).
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.