How are SSSIs selected and notified?

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) notifies Sites of Special Scientific Interest(SSSI) under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004  .  Sites previously notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 were carried forward under the 2004 Act.  There are still a few SSSIs notified under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.  These sites will be reviewed and re-notified as appropriate under the 2004 Act.  In the meantime, the arrangements for these sites differ from those for 2004 Act SSSIs.  Except where specifically noted, the following information is about 2004 Act SSSIs only. 

Scottish Natural Heritage has a duty, under section 3 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, to notify as SSSI areas of land that it considers to be of national importance for their fauna or flora or their geology or geomorphology (that is, their plants, animals, rocks and landforms).  We choose sites carefully after detailed survey and evaluation against published criteria available on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website.  There are different selection criteria for biological  and earth science  SSSIs. 

When notifying a new SSSI, we contact every owner and occupier to discuss why we are proposing the designation and what it would mean to them.  This is followed by a formal consultation process.  Interested parties may then make representations to SNH which will consider them and seek to discuss and resolve them with the interested party.

We may amend the list of features for which an SSSI is notified at any time, and we may review the list of operations requiring consent (ORC list) every 6 years.  We will shortly complete a review of all SSSI citations and ORC lists (started in 2005).  Owners and occupiers of land within an SSSI may ask us to reconsider the scientific case for the SSSI every 10 years.  You can find more information about this in the SSSI booklet, or by speaking to staff in your local SNH office.