Site of Special Scientific Interest (Scotland)
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) are those areas of land and water (to the seaward limits of local authority areas or MLWS) that Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) considers to best represent our natural heritage - its diversity of plants, animals and habitats, rocks and landforms, or a combinations of such natural features. They are the essential building blocks of Scotland's protected areas for nature conservation. Many are also designated as Natura sites (Special Protection Areas or Special Areas of Conservation). The national network of SSSIs in Scotland forms part of the wider GB series. SNH designates SSSIs under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. SSSIs are protected by law. It is an offence for any person to intentionally or recklessly damage the protected natural features of an SSSI. SSSIs were first designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The majority of these were later re-notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. All 1981 Act SSSI designations are carried forward, and all new SSSI designations are now made, under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.
dataset
https://ogc.nature.scot/geoserver/protectedareas/ows?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS
protocol: OGC:WMS-1.3.0-http-get-capabilities
name: sssi
description: sssi
https://ogc.nature.scot/geoserver/protectedareas/wfs?request=GetCapabilities&service=WFS
protocol: OGC:WFS-1.0.0-http-get-capabilities
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description: Sites of Special Scientific Interest
function: download
https://gis-downloads.nature.scot/SSSI_SCOTLAND_SHP_27700.zip
protocol: WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
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https://gis-downloads.nature.scot/SSSI_SCOTLAND_GPKG_27700.zip
protocol: WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
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https://gis-downloads.nature.scot/SSSI_SCOTLAND_GML_4258.zip
protocol: WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
name: GML (EPSG:4258)
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https://gis-downloads.nature.scot/SSSI_SCOTLAND_GEOJSON_4326.zip
protocol: WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
name: GeoJSON (EPSG:4326)
function: download
https://opendata.nature.scot/maps/sites-of-special-scientific-interest
protocol: WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
name: NatureScot OpenData Hub
function: information
SSSI
www.nature.scot
eng
EPSG
OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG:27700)
environment
Protected sites
publication
2008-06-01
nature conservation policy
publication
2012-07-20
-9.32202825
-0.093512624999999
61.8049055
54.422093
publication
1999-03-16
GB-SCT
1940
2023
creation
1997
revision
2023-03-09
continual
SSSIs were first designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The majority of these were later re-notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. All 1981 Act SSSI designations are carried forward, and all new SSSI designations are now made, under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.The 2004 Act strengthens the protection of sites and gives legal backing to the increased involvement of land owners and managers and local communities. SNH's SSSI Data has been captured over a long period of time using a range of different source data made available to SNH through the Scottish Central Government SLA, the Pan Government Agreement and subsequently through the One Scotland Mapping Agreement. The data was revised and re-issued in 2012. Please see Access Constraints for more details. SNH also supplies a copy to Registers of Scotland for publication under the Scottish SSSI register. Designating Authority SNH Legislative Context Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (section 3). Previously the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Section 28 (as amended) and the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, Section 23 (which still applies to a few sites).
publication
2010-12-08
true
This data set is conformant with the INSPIRE Implementing Rules for Network Services
publication
2010-12-08
true
This data set is conformant with the INSPIRE Implementing Rules for the interoperability of spatial data sets and services
ESRI Shapefile
No limitations on public access
Contains SNH information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Geographic Information Group
NatureScot
Great Glen House
Inverness
IV3 8NW
United Kingdom
pointOfContact
Geographic Information Group
NatureScot
Great Glen House
Inverness
IV3 8NW
United Kingdom
pointOfContact
2023-07-20T13:29:46