UNITED KINGDOM · SCOTLAND · DESIGNATIONS · SCOTLAND
SPA (Scotland)
What this layer shows
Special Protection Area: classified for rare, vulnerable and regularly occurring migratory birds. Same appraisal duty as an SAC, and the qualifying interest is the bird assemblage rather than the habitat itself.
Where the data comes from
WFS · ogc.nature.scot
Merestone asks this service live for the area on screen. Nothing is copied or stored beyond a short cache.
In these presets
Essentials
What is protected here: the statutory designations, across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus ancient woodland. This is what the map opens with, and what Default puts back. It is a starting point, not a limit: every other layer is one tap away in the list below.
Desk study
The statutory designations an ecologist checks first: SSSI, SAC, SPA, Ramsar, National and Local Nature Reserves across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus ancient woodland and priority habitat. This is the opening move of a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal, what is protected on or near the site. Statutory sites are commonly scoped to 10 km and habitat inventories to 2 km, guidance sets no fixed distances, so set the radius to suit the project.
Renewables screening
The constraints a wind or solar scheme is screened against in Scotland and northern England: carbon-rich soils and deep peat, wild land, National Scenic Areas, the statutory designations and ancient woodland. A screening map, not a decision: NPF4 gives several of these explicit weight, and the rest is casework.