Special Protection Areas

What are SPAs?

A Special Protection Area (or SPA) is a site designated under the Birds Directive. These sites, together with Special Areas of Conservation (or SACs), are called Natura sites and they are internationally important for threatened habitats and species. Natura sites form a unique network of protected areas which stretches across Europe from the rocky coasts of Ireland in the west, to the marshes of eastern Poland, taking in the northern forests of Sweden and the volcanic lava fields of Tenerife. 

SPAs are selected for a number of rare, threatened or vulnerable bird species listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive, and also for regularly occurring migratory species.

Where are SPAs found?

Scotland's location at the north-west corner of Europe, and its varied range of wild and semi-natural habitats, means that it is internationally important for many species of wild birds.

• SPAs in Scotland
• SPAs in the marine environment
• SPAs in other countries   

How are SPAs protected and managed?

• The law protecting SPAs
• Management of SPAs

How are SPAs selected and classified?

The UK has had an active programme of SPA identification and classification since 1979 when the Birds Directive came into force. The programme has evolved over this time with gradual development of the processes and procedures for site selection.

• Species protected in SPAs in Scotland  and elsewhere in the UK  
• Site selection and classification procedures   for SPAs in the UK 
• SPA selection guidelines   in the UK 
• The UK SPA Network: Its Scope and Content   was published in 2001.  It provides a useful overview of the the SPA network at the time but has not been updated since publication, so details of more recent sites may be out of date or missing

Classification of new SPAs

Scottish Natural Heritage are pleased to announce that, following the consultation on 6 Golden Eagle Special Protection Areas (SPAs) which took place from 13 January 2010 - 7 April 2010, 6 sites were classified by Scottish Ministers on 28 October 2010.

You can further information here .