Natura 2000 Habitat Classes for UK Protected Sites

Habitat classes for each Natura 2000 site (SAC and SPA) in the UK, derived from data submitted to the EU Commission on 22 December 2015. The dataset contains one row for each combination of individual site and habitat class, as defined at the EU level. It was produced by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Use Cases

• Classify and map protected habitat types based on the EU-level habitat list.
• Analyze the distribution of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) based on the Habitats Directive.
• Analyze the distribution of Special Protection Areas (SPA) based on the Birds Directive.
• Cross-reference site-level conservation data using the Standard Data Form structure.

Strengths

• Data is derived from an official EU Commission submission exercise (Tranche 50).
• Includes both SAC and SPA site designations, covering two major EU conservation directives.
• Habitat classes are standardized at the EU level, enabling cross-border comparison.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last updated 2026-04-14 09:45:34.313925; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Collection Method

Derived from UK-wide data submitted to the EU Commission as part of the Standard Data Form updating exercise.

Time Range

Snapshot from 22 December 2015 (Tranche 50).

Freshness

2026-04-14 09:45:34.313925

Geography

United Kingdom