Areas of Special Scientific Interest: Protected Sites in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) provide statutory protection for the region's best examples of flora, fauna, geological, or physiographical features. The dataset is provided by OpenDataNI in SHP format under the OGL-UK-3.0 license and was last updated on 2026-07-08. Designations began under the 1985 Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands Order, with new sites designated under the 2002 Environment Order.

Use Cases

• Mapping legally protected conservation zones based on the geospatial boundaries.
• Analyzing habitat and species distribution based on the described 'Species' and 'Habitat' feature categories.
• Assessing geological or physiographical feature protection based on the described 'Earth Science' category.
• Planning land-use and development projects to avoid damaging designated natural features, as described in the legal context.

Strengths

• Data has a clear legal basis, defined under the 1985 and 2002 Northern Ireland Orders.
• Site features are categorized into specific types: Species, Habitat, and Earth Science.
• The dataset is provided in the SHP format, a standard for geospatial data.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description does not specify the total number of designated sites.

Provenance

Source

OpenDataNI

Collection Method

Likely derived from official government GIS records for statutory designations.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:03.810066; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Ireland, extending to the mean low water mark.