Background information on Protected Sites

A protected site is a defined area of land, water, or sea that is protected by law for the nature it supports, including important wildlife, landforms and rock types. A protected site is defined in the Environment Act as:  

• A European site: Special Protection Area (SPA) or Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
• Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or  
• Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ). 

Ramsar Sites (wetlands of international importance) are also protected sites. The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 modified the Habitats Regulations such that Ramsar Sites will be treated the same way as European Sites for certain purposes once this section of the Act comes into force. Ramsar Sites are designated under the 1971 Ramsar Convention.

SSSIs are designated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; European Sites under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (Habitats Regulations). Different provisions apply under these pieces of legislation, but all European sites are SSSIs. Natural England sets objectives for SSSIs and European sites when they are designated, and these are used to determine whether they are achieving their conservation goals.

The majority of protected sites are in a condition that does not support their important habitats, species and geological features well enough (see Extent and condition of protected areas statistics for further information). Often pressures from outside site boundaries, including climate change, pollution and coastal squeeze, are causing declining conditions. 

A summary of the legal and regulatory framework for protected sites is provided in this Natural England guide, Protected Site Strategies and Other Environmental Levers (which forms part of Natural England's Protected Site Strategy Advisory Guidance 1.0). Our Protected Sites and Local Planning Authorities page provides a short overview of how protected sites should be considered through planning and development.

The MAGIC website (Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside) provides mapped information about the natural environment, including protected sites.

• Natural England has powers under the Wildlife and Countryside Act to ensure that SSSIs are managed in a way that protects their important habitats and species and to restore these where they have been damaged or are not in a favourable condition.  
• All public bodies, including NE and all local planning authorities, have a legal duty to protect and enhance SSSIs under Section 28G of the Wildlife and Countryside Act: “The duty is to take reasonable steps, consistent with the proper exercise of the authority’s functions, to further the conservation and enhancement of the flora, fauna or geological features by reason of which the site is of special scientific interest”.
• Regulation 9 of the Habitats Regulations sets out duties for relevant public authorities to exercise their functions in compliance with, or with regard to, the requirements of the Habitats Directive and the Wild Birds Directives, including: ‘Improving the ecological coherence of the national sites network (including through land use planning)’.
• Public bodies also have duties relating to operations they carry out on or likely to affect SSSIs and operations they permit that may affect SSSIs. These duties are similar to the ‘competent authority’ role in the Habitats Regulations for European Sites.
• Guidance on public body responsibilities for SSSIs is available from the government. The Guidance on Duty to protect, conserve and restore European sites provides an equivalent summary on public body duties for European Sites.
• The PAS Protected Sites and Local Planning Authorities webpage provides a short overview of how protected sites should be considered through planning and development.

• Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006: Paragraph 40 sets out the duty to conserve and enhance biodiversity. Guidance on complying with the biodiversity duty is available from Government.
• Regulation 9 of the Habitats Regulations sets out duties for relevant public authorities to exercise their functions in compliance with, or with regard to, the requirements of the Habitats Directive and the Wild Birds Directives. These go beyond duties for European sites. Guidance is available here.
• The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 are focused on prevention and remediation of environmental damage more for large industrial works rather than development in general. 

Protected sites and local planning authorities

This page provides a short overview of how protected sites should be considered through planning and development. It highlights that protected site legislation is mainly focused on avoiding impacts from development, rather than development helping to deliver improvements to these sites. It explores how relevant legislation and policy could be applied by local planning authorities (LPAs) to ensure development not only avoids impacts, but also has a beneficial impact on protected sites.  

Protected site strategies

This page provides information on Protected Site Strategies (PSS) as part of the PAS project funded by Natural England. PSS bring together a variety of relevant stakeholders to look beyond site boundaries to find solutions to address wider environmental issues impacting these protected sites that cannot be resolved well at the site level.