dataset · United Kingdom

Common Database on Designated Areas in the UK

A spatial dataset of the UK's National designations submitted to the Common Database on Designated Areas (CDDA) in March 2016. This is the most up to data copy of the dataset and previous submissions have been archived. The CDDA is a data bank for officially designated protected areas such as nature reserves, protected landscapes, National Parks, etc. in Europe. The CDDA is run by the European Environment Agency. This spatial dataset includes only data for National Designations, the main ones be

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Source details

Licence: ["No limitations"]

Evidence quality: 37.9

Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).

Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z

What's in it

Data offered docs-verified: UK national designated protected areas (spatial dataset) · Sites of Special Scientific Interest · National Nature Reserves · Local Nature Reserves · National Parks · Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty · Marine Protected Areas
Coverage docs-verified: United Kingdom · Snapshot of national designations submitted to CDDA in March 2016
Access docs-verified: Open Government Licence v3.0; access constraints: no limitations

Useful for

Use cases llm-inferred: Screening a development red-line boundary for overlaps with SSSI, NNR or LNR designations · Mapping statutory nature-conservation constraints as an EIA or planning baseline layer · Checking whether a river or drainage scheme sits within a National Park, AONB or Marine Protected Area
Audience llm-inferred: ecologists · planners · GIS analysts · environmental consultants · flood and drainage consultants

Limitations

Constraints llm-inferred: Based on the March 2016 CDDA submission; designations made since then may be missing despite the 'most up to date copy' wording · Dates are inconsistent: the summary cites a March 2016 submission while the publication reference date is 2015-03-15 · Only national designations are included, so other designation types are not covered · Extent bounding box reaches offshore, so clip to the area of interest before use · Data download formats are not clearly stated in the listed resources (the link format field is unreadable and the only listed formats are metadata XML and HTML) · No update schedule is given beyond the page's last-updated date

Evidence

Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.