Sites of Special Scientific Interest

SSSIs were first designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The majority of these were later re-notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. All 1981 Act SSSI designations are carried forward, and all new SSSI designations are now made, under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.The 2004 Act strengthens the protection of sites and gives legal backing to the increased involvement of land owners and managers and local communities. SNH's SSSI Data has been captured over a long period of time using a range of different source data made available to SNH through the Scottish Central Government SLA, the Pan Government Agreement and subsequently through the One Scotland Mapping Agreement. The data was revised and re-issued in 2012. Please see Access Constraints for more details. SNH also supplies a copy to Registers of Scotland for publication under the Scottish SSSI register. Designating Authority SNH Legislative Context Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (section 3). Previously the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Section 28 (as amended) and the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, Section 23 (which still applies to a few sites).