UNITED KINGDOM · SCOTLAND · DESIGNATIONS · SCOTLAND
SSSI (Scotland)
What this layer shows
Scotland's Sites of Special Scientific Interest (NatureScot).
Where the data comes from
WFS · ogc.nature.scot
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Facts shown for each feature
Site area (ha) · Last updated
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.
Forestry
The checks behind a felling licence or a woodland creation application: ancient woodland and its revision, the National Forest Inventory, the live felling licence register, EWCO low-sensitivity land, the 1891–1914 historic woodland maps, wood pasture, deciduous priority habitat, and the statutory designations that constrain felling and planting: SSSI, SAC, SPA and Ramsar.
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.