dataset · England
Special Protection Areas (England)
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is the land classified under Directive 79/409 on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Data supplied has the status "Classified". The data does not include "proposed" sites. Boundaries are mapped against Ordnance Survey MasterMap. Attribution statement: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year].
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Licence: ["There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.", "There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the
Evidence quality: 57.2
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
- Special Protection Area boundaries (classified sites)
- Coverage docs-verified
- England
- Update frequency docs-verified
- notPlanned (no scheduled update frequency)
- Formats docs-verified
- ESRI REST Feature Service · OGC API - Features · WMS · WFS · Shapefile (ZIP) · GeoPackage (ZIP) · GeoJSON (ZIP) · File Geodatabase (ZIP) · ArcGIS layer file (.lyr)
- Access docs-verified
- Free/open: no public access constraints; use subject to the Open Government Licence v3.0
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Habitats Regulations Assessment screening: check whether a development site or search area intersects or lies near an SPA · Ecology constraints layer for site appraisal and planning GIS · Drainage or outfall route screening against designated bird sites · Baseline designated-site mapping for EIA scoping reports
- Audience llm-inferred
- ecologists · GIS analysts · planners · environmental consultants
Limitations
- Constraints docs-verified
- Only sites with 'Classified' status; proposed sites are excluded · No scheduled updates (update frequency notPlanned); last revision dated 2025-02-15, so recent designation changes may be missing · Boundaries are mapped against Ordnance Survey MasterMap · Attribution statement required when reusing the data
Evidence
- https://environment.data.gov.uk/api/file/download?fileDataSetId=a49a1583-75db-4c9f-9ba4-70681d4f8415&fileName=Data_Gov_UK_Metadata_Special_Protection_Areas_England.url
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/174f4e23-acb6-4305-9365-1e33c8d0e455/special-protection-areas-england2
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.