Great Britain Special Areas of Conservation Boundaries, April 2025 Update

Joint Nature Conservation Committee maintains this spatial dataset of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Great Britain, excluding offshore areas and Northern Ireland. The dataset is part of the UK's National Site Network and was last updated in April 2025 to reflect changes like new designations and boundary amendments. JNCC periodically publishes updates, but statutory bodies may update boundaries more frequently.

Use Cases

• Map and analyze protected habitat networks based on the spatial boundaries.
• Monitor changes in conservation site designations based on the periodic update cycle.
• Conduct spatial planning assessments by overlaying SAC boundaries with other land-use data.
• Support environmental impact assessments using the official site boundary data.

Strengths

• Dataset is maintained by the authoritative Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
• Update cycle is documented, with the last update applied in April 2025.
• Focuses on a legally defined network (UK National Site Network) with clear change criteria.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Excludes offshore areas and Northern Ireland, which are separate datasets.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Collection Method

Periodic updates following changes to the UK National Site Network, including new designations and boundary amendments.

Time Range

Current as of April 2025.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2025; platform record updated on 2026-04-14.

Geography

Great Britain (excluding offshore areas and Northern Ireland).