dataset · Wales
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
This spatial dataset contains the digital boundaries of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in Wales. SSSIs cover a wide range of habitats from small fens, bogs and riverside meadows to sand-dunes, woodlands and vast tracts of uplands. Most are in private ownership, although some are owned and managed by local wildlife trusts, or other voluntary conservation bodies. Notification of an SSSI under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 has since been amended by the Countryside and Rights o
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Licence: ["There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.", "\u00a9 CNC/NRW All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number
Evidence quality: 47.6
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
- SSSI digital boundaries (spatial polygons) · WMS web mapping service · dataset download
- Coverage docs-verified
- Wales (extent approx. 51.24° to 53.51° N, -5.78° to -2.61° W) · Designations from 1949 to present, ongoing; data held digitally since mid-1990s
- Update frequency docs-verified
- As needed (asNeeded)
- Formats docs-verified
- WMS (Web Mapping Service) · download (file format not stated)
- Access docs-verified
- Free/open, no access restrictions; no API key or auth stated. Site content under OGL v3.0 except where otherwise stated.
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- SSSI constraints screening for a development or scheme site boundary · Identifying where NRW must be consulted before planning approval in Wales · Routing check for pipeline, drainage outfall or civils corridors against SSSI boundaries · Ecological context layer for habitat baseline and BNG work near designated sites
- Audience llm-inferred
- environmental consultants · ecologists · planners · GIS analysts · civils engineers · water engineers
Limitations
- Constraints docs-verified
- Wales only; no England or Scotland coverage · Digital boundaries are not the legal definitive boundary; the designation map is · Large SSSIs digitised from smaller-scale maps may need checking against the OS MasterMap edition at time of capture
Evidence
- https://datamap.gov.wales/layers/inspire-nrw:NRW_SSSI
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/25aa9739-c985-4d1f-885c-1de73143d0c0/sites-of-special-scientific-interest-sssis8
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.