Download GIS data
Please read the following and choose which datasets you wish to download..
UK-wide digital GIS datasets for internationally designated sites
The datasets
The datasets available include digital boundaries for all:
- Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) that have been submitted by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) on behalf of the UK Government to the European Commission (the full UK dataset).
- SACs with marine components (subset of the full UK SAC submission, including only SACs with marine components and offshore SACs).
- Offshore SACs (subset of the full UK SAC submission, including only offshore sites)
- Special Protection Areas (SPAs) that have been submitted by by JNCC on behalf of the UK Government to the European Commission (the full UK dataset).
- SPAs with marine components (subset of the full UK SPA submission, including only SACs with marine components)
- Ramsar sites submitted by JNCC on behalf of the UK Government to the Ramsar Secretariat
- UK OSPAR MPAs that have been submitted by JNCC on behalf of the UK Administrations to the OSPAR Commission (includes all sites which have been submitted before the end of December 2011). All of these OSPAR MPAs are existing Natura 2000 sites (SACs and SPAs).
The number of sites in these datasets matches the number of sites submitted
to the relevant authority as identified above.
We cannot currently supply boundary data for proposed/possible sites (i.e.
those that have not yet been submitted to the relevant authority) with the
exception of those draft and possible offshore waters.
Natura 2000 sites (SAC and SPA) with marine components
SACs
with marine components are those sites which contain qualifying Habitats Directive Annex I marine habitats and/or qualifying Annex II marine species (where these species are reliant on the marine environment within SAC boundaries).
SPAs with marine components are defined as those sites with qualifying Birds Directive Annex I species or regularly occurring migratory species that are dependent on the marine environment for all or part of their lifecycle, where these species are found in association with intertidal or subtidal habitats. Please note that the definitions of both 'SACs with marine components' and 'SPAs with marine components' are non-statutory, and do not affect SAC or SPA management (the sites' features are managed regardless of whether they are classed as marine or not).
Versions
There are two versions of each of the full UK datasets available:
1. The 'officially submitted' version
2. The latest UK collation. This is a collation of the latest 'working versions' as maintained by the Country Agencies.
1. The officially submitted version
Whenever there is a change to the submitted information (e.g. the addition of a new candidate SAC or an extension to an SPA), the UK Government is required to update the GIS digitised boundary information. The data for all sites in the UK have to be collated into a single data file (shape file) for each of the three designation types. The procedures currently also require that new paper maps should be produced whenever there is a change to the site boundary. The boundaries of individual sites in the digitised datasets match the paper copies of the maps that form part of the official submission, with the exception of certain SPAs and Ramsar sites where the classification/designation pre-dates the use of computerised GIS. The area estimates (i.e. hectarages) shown on the Natura 2000 standard data forms and the Ramsar Information Sheets have been derived from these digitised datasets, and should therefore also match up. The "officially submitted" version available from this website is an exact copy of the dataset sent to the relevant authority. Because these sites have been designated/submitted over a number of years, they may not be the same as the 'dynamically updated' version of the boundary data held by the 'source' Country Agency.
Offshore SACs and candidate Offshore SACs are available in a separate file to the UK SACs as it is not appropriate to project them in British National Grid. The Offshore SACs have been projected using a Geographic Co-ordinate System and WGS84 datum. This means that the UK SAC GIS submitted data has been sub-divided as follows:
- The UK SAC dataset (terrestrial, inshore) - This data is derived from Ordnance Survey data and is subject to these terms and conditions. The projection in this dataset is based on the Ordnance Survey British National Grid for terrestrial sites in the UK.
- The Offshore cSACs within UK waters - this data is not derived from Ordnance Survey data and is not subject to these terms and conditions.
The Official dataset will only be updated on the JNCC website following new submissions of SACs, SPAs or Ramsar sites to the international authority (the EU or Ramsar Secretariat). JNCC will re-publish the dataset in its entirety within ten working days of the official submission.
2. The latest UK collation.
The Country Agencies hold dynamic data that may reflect changes that are due to a single or a combination of factors, including :-
- A decision by the CA to re-capture the boundary at a different scale.
- Ordnance Survey's decision to change a mapping product e.g. the replacement of OS Landline by OS MasterMap.
- Ordnance Survey's 'Positional Accuracy Improvement' scheme. (See OS website http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ for more information)
- When site boundaries follow natural features and it is stated on the 'official' paper map that the boundary moves with that feature then the boundary will be re-plotted to that new position. For example, the movement in river channels, Mean High Water Mark/ Mean Low Water Mark.
Generally these factors produce subtle changes to the boundary and do not trigger the need for re-consultation with site owners/occupiers and other stakeholders and furthermore do not result in an official resubmission of either the site paper maps or the digitised datasets.
Each Country Agency will be working to their own timetable to implement these changes.
JNCC has collated the 'latest version' of the relevant datasets for all four Countries in the United Kingdom to enable users to access each of the three site types as a single shapefile. The offshore data has been kept separate because it is based on a different projection.
Many users will find that the 'latest version' is more suited to their needs than the 'officially submitted' version - this applies especially to users of the Ordnance Survey's Mastermap dataset. Users must however be aware that the 'latest UK collation' should never be regarded as definitive. In fact it is only the 'paper map' that is regarded as being the definitive boundary.
Details of most recent updates
Official version
| Designation type | Last updated | Size (Mb) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAC |
30 August 2012 |
44 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 1 Hour 48 minutes Review latest changes to officially submitted UK SAC list. |
| SACs with marine components |
30 August 2012 |
14 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 30 minutes |
| Offshore SACs |
30 August 2012 |
839 Kb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 2 minutes |
| SPA |
05 Sept 2011 |
24 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 1 hour
|
| SPAs with marine components |
05 Sept 2011 |
14 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 30 minutes |
| Ramsar |
28 Nov 2011 |
20 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 50 minutes |
| UK OSPAR MPAs |
Dec 2012 |
32 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 1 hour 20 minutes |
Latest collation
| Designation type | Last updated | Size (Mb) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAC |
05 Sept 2011 |
66 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 2 hours 42 minutes .
|
| SPA |
05 Sept 2011 |
38 Mb |
Download time (56 kb modem): 1 hour 30 minutes .
|
| Ramsar |
- |
- |
Update pending |
Warning: these are large datasets and may take a long time to download
Format of data supply
The data are supplied only as ArcView shape files (the format required for submission to the EC). Most GIS software packages have conversion routines to change the data to a different format (e.g. MapInfo has a shape file to MapInfo file conversion routine). ArcGIS users (version 3, version 8 and version 9) will be able to use the shape files in their current format. For ease of use and analysis, the dataset has been 'dissolved' so that each individual SAC, SPA, Ramsar and UK OSPAR MPA site has only one multipart polygon.
Origins of the GIS data
The GIS boundary data have been collated at JNCC from data supplied by the following organisations:
Scottish Natural Heritage www.snh.gov.uk/
Countryside Council for Wales www.ccw.gov.uk
Natural England www.naturalengland.org.uk/
Northern Ireland Environment Agency www.ni-environment.gov.uk
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (Offshore Sites Team)
The 'dynamically updated' versions of the boundary data for individual countries in the UK are also available directly from the appropriate Country Agency. Please note that if your requirement for boundary data only relates to a geographically smaller subset of the UK (e.g. a single country, county or district), you would probably find it easier to obtain these data directly from the Country Agency. The Country Agencies are also able to supply data not available from JNCC, e.g. digital boundaries for Sites of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserves.
The four agencies listed above also provide access to country/area specific
GIS datasets on their websites.
Follow the links below to find out what is currently available from the Country Agencies:
Follow the links below to find out what is currently available from the Country Agencies:
Data that can be linked to the spatial information (attribute data)
The attribute data supplied by JNCC with the boundary datasets includes the name of the site and the standard EU site code (e.g. UK0001234). Other attribute data, e.g. details of interest features on each designated site are available in the Excel spreadsheets included in the GIS downloads or available separately:
These spreadsheets can be used to filter the UK dataset in many different ways. For example, once you have imported the SAC boundary dataset into your GIS package, you can import a table of data from the SAC spreadsheet, and relate the two using the site code. (This is much more reliable than linking on the site name). Then by querying on for example "Woodland = 'Y'", you can build a polygon layer with only those sites which have one or more woodland features on them. The spreadsheet itself contains comments giving an explanation of each attribute. For further details on how you can use attribute data from the spreadsheet in your GIS package, you should contact JNCC's data custodian
(email:
, tel. +44 (0)1733 - 866 882.
Terms and conditions
BEFORE YOU CLICK ON THE "I AGREE" BUTTON AT THE END OF THIS PAGE AND DOWNLOAD
THE DATA, YOU MUST CAREFULLY READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET OUT IN THE END USER LICENCE FOR ORDNANCE SURVEY GREAT BRITAIN DATA. FOR TERMS AND CONDITIONS RELATING TO ORDNANCE SURVEY NORTHERN IRELAND DATA YOU MUST READ THE NORTHERN IRELAND TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
BY CLICKING ON THE "I AGREE" BUTTON AND BY ACCESSING THE DATA YOU WILL BE DEEMED TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THE LICENCE. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND THEN PLEASE CLICK THE "CANCEL" BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.
BY CLICKING ON THE "I AGREE" BUTTON AND BY ACCESSING THE DATA YOU WILL BE DEEMED TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THE LICENCE. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND THEN PLEASE CLICK THE "CANCEL" BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.
NB the terms and conditions contained in the End User Licence do not apply to the Offshore SACs GIS data as these boundaries are not derived from Ordnance Survey data. All other datasets are only made available under these terms and conditions. The End User Licence document is included in the download zip files.
Please note that JNCC is currently reviewing these Terms and Conditions and moving towards the adoption of the Open Government Licence - at least for data in GB. We are holding seperate discussions with Northern Ireland Environment Agency. If you have any queries, please contact JNCC: Joint Nature Conservation
Committee, Monkstone House, Peterborough PE1 1JY,
or telephone +44 (0)1733 - 866 882.